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DNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



CALVARY-VIRGINIA 



TRAGEDIES 



BY 



LAUGHTON OSBORN 












y 



NEW YORK 
DOOLADY: BROOME - STREET 

M DCCC LXVII 



7&* 4i4- 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 

LAUGIITON OSBORN 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States 
for the Southern District of New York. 



John v. Trow & Co., 

Printers and Stereotypers. 



By an error of the pressvvork, the list of " Characters " in Calvary 
is put upon the back of the " Notice," instead of facing the first page 
of the Tragedy . 

The Publisher greatly regrets this blemish of an otherwise admi- 
rably printed work ; but the book was nearly through the hands of 
the binder before it was discovered. 

The error will be easily rectified in a subsequent edition. 



NOTICE 



The two pieces here presented are the first of a series of nineteen, 
which, with the exception of two, are now completed and ready for the 
press ; namely : 

Calvary ; Virginia ; Bianca Capello ; Ugo da EsU ; Uberto ; TJie 
Last Afandeville ; Matilda of Denmark ; Meleager ; Palamedes ; 
CEnone ; Pyrrhus, Son of Achilles ; Bon Sancho Ortiz. Tragedies. 

The Silver Head : 'The Double Deceit ; The Montanini ; The Mag- 
netizer ; The Prodigal ; TJie Double-dealer ; The Dead Alive. Come- 
dies. 

The next to be published will be The Silver Head and 
TJie Double Deceit : Comedies. 



OH ABA OT E R S 

Primary 
Jesus oi Nazabbth. 

Kapha el, ) 

MUIIAKL.J 4 ™»™^ 

Caiaphas, High-Priest. 

PoNTIUB Pilatus, Procurator of Judea. 

NlOODEKUBj ) 

JOSKPB ur AbIMATHEaJ^^^^"^ 

JUDAS IsCARIOT. 

LuoiFBB. 

Beelzebub. 

Maby, Mother of Jesus. 
Ma by Magdalene. 
Maltha. 

Ohobus of Angels. — Cuoeus of Evil SriiHTs. 

Secondary 
A Centurion. A SOBIBE. 

Simon Peteb, \ Three Witnesses. 

l.hy \ Disciples of Jesus. r . ... _ 

) Certain of the People. 

Ah Eldeb. 

HON. — IfALOHUS, & r00ftl ,,/" //„.- J/ifjh-Pricst. 

Mute Persons 

Jam;. V, ,./ ,/. , 

f th Sanhedrim. Officers in attendance. Soldiers 
<>f ' ' I Lictors. Servants. People. 



iLYAET 



MDOOCLXIV 



OALYAEY 



Ao^ the First 

Scene L Heaven. 

Kaphael. Michael. Ohoeus of Angels. 

Raph. Deep gloom is over Heaven ; the Seraphim 
Have veil'd their glowing eyes. 
Their song of praise, that wont to rise 
In gratitude and joy of heart to Him, 
In sorrow now and awful reverence dies. 

Mich. The ever-burning lights around the Throne, 
No longer whirling their concentric fires, 
Grow fix'd and languid-pale : 
The flame within, till now that changeless shone, 
Whose blaze not even we could gaze upon, 
And none approach, no more the vault aspires, 
But sinking seems to fail. 

Raph. And hark ! that voice of more than wail, 



CALVARY. 

That breathes responsive to the plaintive tone 
Struck from the golden wires. 

Choeus. 
The hour of Earth is approaching, 

That solemn predestinate time, 

When the thankless children of Jacob 

Complete their long record of crime; 

When the Lord, who from Heaven descended 

Adam's forfeit of sin to assume, 

Hifl mournful humanity ended, 

Shall be laid in a human tomb. 

O sorrow of sorrows exceeding, 

That our eyes should be destin'd to see 

The Son of the Highest stretch'd bleeding 

In pain on the infamous tree ! 

Though the tears, the long anguish are healing, 

Though those blood-drops anoint for the skies, 

Ye1 ran we behold without feeling 

II is wounds, hear unecho'd his sighs? 

\\ ould, would we might not hear, not see them, 

That our hearts were not conscious before 

Of those death-throes, or conscious might flee them, 

Till the night of this anguish were o'er! 

Till, the shadows of death away driven, 

And the pathway of Earth no more trod, 

The Lord should ascend his own Heaven, 

And <it at the righl bond of God. 



ACT I. SC. 1. 



Baph. But for the gloom of night, 

The effulgence of their day-star when arisen 
Would waken in Earth's children no delight. 
When from the tomb's black prison 
The Lord in his own nature mounts the skies, 
The consciousness of that dread sacrifice 
Will make his glory to our tearful eyes 
And swelling hearts more bright. 

Mich. But oh the interval ! to see that sight, *V 
When on the cross the Lofd of Heaven dies. 



Choetts — receding. 

Though the tears, the long anguish are healing, 
Though those blood-drops anoint for the skies, 
Yet can we behold without feeling 
His wounds, hear unecho'd his sighs ? 

Would, would we might not hear, not see them, 

That our hearts were not conscious before 

Of those death-throes, or conscious might flee them, 

Till the night of this anguish were o'er ! 

Till, the shadows of death away driven, 

And the pathway of Earth no more trod, 

The Lord should ascend his own Heaven, 

And sit at the right hand of God. 



( Al.YAKY. f 

:m: II. 
Before the Procurator's Palace, at Jerusalem. 

Posnus. Oaiaphas. 

Pi nt, I qpe it imt. Is your religion true, 

Be this man's doctrine false it mars it not, 
If right it aids it. 'lis your bigot creed. 
We Gentiles have a faith more mild and broad: 
It persecutes not, and%dmits all gods. 

data. Because your gods are creatures of the brain. 
Ours is the dread I AM, that was and is, 
And ever shall be, sole and sempiterne, 
As was reveal'd in thunder from the cloud, 
\Mid lightnings, when the mountain shook and smok'd, 
Where Moses stood on Sinai. 

Pont. Thou hast heard, 
Our Sabine Xuma had his nymph as well, 
That taught him without thunder. 'Tis one thing, — 
Priestcraft and statecraft join'd, to bind an age 
That was not docile and had scouted Truth 
In her grand nakedness. I blame it not, 
Albeit your great law-maker should have feign'd 
The Godhead mightier than to tire so soon 
And 8 tbbath. No, the gods of Rome 

Are not vain fictions ; they but shape us out 

and we who kneel 
1 >o homage to I : y>n in mass. 

This Jesus i bat the wise and good 

Have taught in every creed and from all time. 



ACT I. SC. 2. 



He would in Eome be reverenc'd if a sage, 

If a mere sophist laugh'd at and let go 

As harmless. 

Caia. And a breaker of the laws ! 
Pont. He bids the people everywhere obey them. 
Caia, [with irritation.] He is a vile impostor, and pretends 

To work out miracles and heal by touch 

And word diseases. 

Pont. Eather say, he does. 

There is a brave centurion, now within, — 

"Wouidst thou inquired will tell thee on that point. 

By Hercules ! he paints me such a scene 

That I myself might find it in my heart 

To tremble and believe. 

Caia, For the belief, 

Even as thou wilt; but think whereon thou stand'st, 

And tremble, noble Pontius, with a fear 

That were more politic and less devout. 

Thou hast heard, thou hast seen indeed, and knowest 
as well, 

"What an unruly and seditious race 

Our people are, still hankering for their kings, 

And easily led by all who promise such. 

Witness the robber Ezekias' son, 

And Simon, who was simply the king's slave, 

And the obscure Athronges and his brothers. 

Did not this last achieve, and for a time 

Actually wield, the power of a king, 

And do great damage to the Eoman troops ? 
Pont. But that was when nor king nor ethnarch reignM. 



CAI.VAKV. 

And with what promptness Varus put him down! 

. Because ii WBS tumultuous revolt 

And had too many heads. Bu1 here is one, 

Who works by moral power, and slowly moves, 

1 > ii t surely, onward to a greater aim 
With loftier pretensions* Need I warn thee 
We are a haughty people, restive ever 
Under a foreign yoke ? 

Pont. By Castor, no ! 
But I shall make it heavier on their necks, 
If the team struggle. 'T is not very long 
Since the hid daggers of my faithful men 
Made mute their hellow. 1 

Caia. Please thee, hear awhile. 
This is no rude pretender, no arni'd. hrawler, 
But a most cunning man, of gentle manners 
And of seducing eloquence, wdio claims 
Descent hy David from our line of kings, 
And to be that Messiah under whom 
We are to have our laws again and triumph 
Over all our foes. 

Void. If that he over Borne, 
Your land must grow, and every Jewish captain 
Be multiplied a thousand fold. 

Caia, Of yore 
counted not the number when Jehovah 
imanded to the fight If this false prophet 
Persuade th< be is their rightful prince, 

How Long think'sl thou they'd hesitate to strive, 
God-d i'.'cn. as they 'd deem if. to break down 



ACT I. SC. 2. 



All obstacles that bar him from the throne ? 

Hast thou forgot the self-call'd Alexander, 

Who claim'd to be the son of Herod king ? 

Flock'd the Jews round him when he came to Rome, 

And bore him on a litter through the streets, 

Deck'd as beseems a kiog, there, even there, 

In your imperial city. 

Pont. Where his robes 
Fell from him and the litter bore no more, 
And shame succeeded to the popular joy. 

Caia. But after plague to Caesar. As a friend 

To thy great master, thou should'st clear his path 
From every pebble that may make it rough : 
And this is one. 

Pont. To pieces break it then : 
Crush it, and rid me of the dust. — But, sooth, 
Deem'st thou this Jesus dangerous ? 

Caia. In sooth, 
I know not, care not. This alone I know, 
The people must be quiet, and one man 
May well be made a sacrifice for more. 

Pont. True policy, for ruler as for priest. 

Do as thou wilt ; but when thou hast done all 

Whence is the victim ? 

Caia. Where born, meanest thou ? 
He is a Galilean. 

Pont. Send him then 
To Antipas for sentence ; that the blood 
Of his seditious subjects, shed by me, 
May no more be betwixt us. 2 So, farewell. 



CALVARY. 

Scene III. 

.1 ' om in the thrilling of Jesus* Motlter. 

Jesus. Maby. 

Mary, And canst thou speak with calmness, when my heart 
[g aching for thee? Jesus, O my son! 
Think on thy mother, and avoid the storm 
That now is darkening o'er thee, and whose shadow 
Makes my Mood curdle witli the chill of death. 
For my Bake, my darling! 

Jcsns. Shall the palm 
to the fruit that leaves the parent stem, 
Think on thy mother? When its time is come, 
It drops from over-ripeness, and the tree 
Knows it no more. Deem'st thou the Son of Man 
Can flee the hour appointed from all time? 
He who is busy with my Father's work 
Must not he laggard, and not heed the rain, 
Nor howling wind, nor thunder. 

Mary. Still thou speakest 
As if thou aye wert toiling at the work 
Thou dost no more and hast not done for years. 
Who is thy father, who thy brethren, son ? 

her is the Word that sent me hither, 
My brethren are the Children of the Word. — ■ 
Let me b old, the nighl is deepening, 

hour Lb i a 1 musl watch and pray. 

cup lhat 1 shall drink 
Will leave its dregs for I h< 



ACT I. SC 3. 9 



Mary. Give me it all, 
Or let me share it with thee ! 

Jesus. Thou ? my cup ? 
The ringdove pray'd the eagle, Let me soar 
Unto the clouds with thee and share thy nest. 
Poor timid wood-bird, yet her tender eyes 
Could not endure the sun, nor her soft wings 
Sustain her to his eyrie. What I am 
Thou canst not be, woman, nor canst follow 
Whither I go. But watch thou here, and pray, 
As I shall do where T must watch and wrestle. 
And may that bosom, where I once was laid 
Quiet and happy, be more calm than mine. 
Mary. Stay yet a little. By that happy time 

Thou hast thyself remember'd, when these breasts 

That now are wither d fed thee from my blood, 

I do adjure thee ! Thou hast call'd me Mother 

With that sweet voice, although again the tone 

That is so stern and lofty, when thou speakest 

Those riddles that I dare not try to solve, 

Has aw'd and check'd me, — thou hast call'd me Mother. 

I am thy mother, Jesus, and my heart 

Warms to thee now as when I first beheld thee 

After my weary travail ; see me now 

Embrace thy feet, and pray thee as my god, 

For my sake, for thy own ! 

Jesus. What is it, mother ? 
Thy prayer is broken by sobs. So — let me lift thee. 
Thy tears are on my hands. This should not be. 
Were I a soldier, and the trump of war 
1* 



10 CALl AKV. 

miou'd to instant fight, thou wouldst not strive, 
:i though tliy heart were breaking, to detain me. 
Why Bhouldsl thou then when now my Father's voice 
Calls me to oombal demons and to wrestle 
In spirit with that weakness of the licsli 
Which I must share with all of women born? 
To-morrow thou wilt see me once again ; 
But where, mother! 

Enter Haktiia. 

Martha, is it thou ? 
What brings thee to Jerusalem ? Art thou come 
To give me warning as my mother does, 
And strive to shake my purpose? 

Martha. Not so, Lord. 
Who cim do that? But neither, when we pray, 
Do we pretend to arrest or modify 
The will of the Almighty. Yet the sentry, 
Who hut obeys, and has no voice in counsel, 
Gives warning of new danger to his chief. 

Jesus. Thou hast spoken. Martha, loyally and well. 
But, in that faith and wisdom, seest thou not 
That I should need no warning? Even now 
The heart that shall betray me is eonvuls'd 
Wil " racting passions, and the hand 

I- itching for the Bilver that shall buy 
My body for the cross. It is decreed. 

Mary. Mean'st thou this folly \ Canst thou still so calmly 

kk what to credit is My son ! my son ! 

Kneel witb me, Martha I He has love for thee. 



ACT I. SC. 3. 11 



Tell him lie kills me ! Tell him ! Jesus, son ! 

Have mercy on me ! Save thyself — and me ! 
Jesus, Thou nearest, Father! Strengthen this weak heart! 
Marth. Lord, thou hast fled before, when danger dogg'd thee. 

Now, that the hounds are near to lap thy blood, 

Why shouldst thou stand at bay ? 

Jesus. At bay I do not. 

I am no deer before the hunters, Martha, 

I am the Lamb of Sacrifice. Before, 

The altar was not deck'd, the hour not come. 

Stay with my mother, Martha, and console her. 

Stay, and pray with her. Wait what ye shall hear. 

Simon and James and John are coming for me : 

Their footsteps sound already nigh the door. 

The blessing of my Father be upon you. 

Mother, and sister before God, farewell ! 



1 '2 | AI.VAKV. 

A C I T 1 1 E S B COND 

LrciiEi:. Beelzebub, Ohobus of Evil Spirits. 

Ohobus. 

Onward strides the time, 

When the Prince of Heaven, 

For whose sake down-driven 

From the heights sublime 

Hither ward we fell. 

Shall with human anguish, 

Wo divine as well, 

For a spell, — 

Though the weight decrease not 

Of the bootless crime 

Crusird by which we dwell 

Here in Hell, — 

By his sharp partaking 

Lighter make the aching, 

Changeless v, hieh and fell 

Makes as groan and languish, 

Ever though we cease not 

To n bel. 

thai circle Hell, 
Lift yonr wave - rejoici 



ACT II. SC 1. 13 



With your roar loud-voicing 
What we feel so well, 
O'er the wo of Heaven, 
Whence we fell. 

Lucif. Near-sighted as ill-fated, why rejoice? 
Saw ye as far as I do, your parch'd throats 
Would give emission to a direr voice, 
More like the wail above than that which floats 
Now on Hell's vapor, as your sooty wings, 
Confin'd by yon sheer walls and fire-flood moats, 
Scour painfully the region not your choice. 
I cannot sympathize with those vain cries. 

Beelz. Yet hope of vengeance prompts the note each sings 
In wo elate, 

Knowing the sorrow which decreed by fate, 
This hour of Earth, man's crime on Heaven brings. 
Ere twice on that small planet which we hate 
The star that gilds its meanness shall arise, 
The Immortal, who forsook his envy'd state 
To bear a mortal's forfeit, dies. 

Lucif. Ay, for a race that are not worth the throes 
They cost their mothers, shall this son of God, 
Whom we refus'd to worship, bear the blows 
Of bestial human hands, the servile rod, 
And ail the filth of contumely man 
Heaps in his hate, his envy, or disgust, 
On his own fellows, though not worse than he, 
Saving, as chance may will it, in degree, 
Since all are worthless as their Earth's own dust, — 



14 I AI.YAKY. 

For these vile reptiles be shall even die, 
Eo gii e them — them I our immortality ! 

B i be it, it' it niihl . 

Rut I shall thwart the planner and the plan. 

:. Even 3 

I ''h\ Even yet 1 trust. 
This god. his godborn nature laid aside, 
Partook the woman's from whose bowels he sprung 
Into that meaner being. Hence .have clung 
To his dimm'd soul her weaknesses, ally'd 
With something of the godhead's fire and pride, 
Which flit its duller particles among 
Like meteors in Earth's darkness. Tims my power 
Already hath the channeling once defy'd. 
But now ;i better hour 

Approaches, and again the same temptation, 
With loftier aim and surer expectation, 
May make his past endurance idle pain, 
And We, who for his sake hear Heaven's chain, 
Shall Heaven deride. 
':. Bark, ominous the song of exultation, 
Borne by the blast, floats lightly to our side! 

Chorus — in the dista 

Flames that circle Hell, 
Lift your waves rejoicing, 
With your roar loud-voicing 
What we feel BO well. 
O'er the wo of Heaven, 
Whence we fell. 



ACT II. SC. 2. 15 

SCEXE II. 

The abode of Mary Magdalene. 
Judas Iscaeiot. Mary Magdalene. 

Judas, The night is chilly. Hast thou not a coal 
To feed the brazier ? Not one drop of wine ? 
Ugh ! and the lamp looks dying. "Where is gone 
The shekel that I gave thee yesternight ? 

Magd. Be not displeas'd, dear Judas. I bestow'd it 
But as the Master seeni'd to say we ought : 
I cast it in the Treasury. 

Judas. Like that widow 
Whose paltry mites he made of more account 
Than all the rest, because they were her all. 
So thou must give thy all ! Of many fools 
Of Magdala, thou, Mary, art the best. 
"Why not have gone at once to the perfumer's, 
Like thy Bethanian namesake, and anoint 
His yellow locks, or even smear his feet, * 
As I have seen thee sweep them oftentimes 
With these long delicate hairs (I could defile them !) 
He would have thought still more of it. 

Magd. For shame ! 
Thou speakest of our Lord, the Christ, our King. 

Judas. I know not that : I know that I am weary 
Of waiting for his kingdom, which I thought 
Would make us rich at least, — both thee and me. 
That starv'd look worries me : and oh, the chill 
Of this unwholesome lodging ! With that shekel 
Thou might'st have bought us fire and light and food. 



16 ( ALYAKY. 



MagcL Vex uol thy bou] for me; I am content. 
That bil of coin has bought as better fare 
In the Dew kingdom, which La yet to oome, 

Ami i- not earthly. 

Judas, Who sayfl that \ who thinks it? 
None of US -aw von women. Maine one else. 
Not the hot-headed James, not pale-ey'd John, 
Whom I left leaning on the Master's breast, — 
He favors him because of his fair face, 

• does thee, — but I despise the boy) — 
None overzealous "sons of thunder," 

A- thy Lord terms them, for a single day 
Would sail from town to town and Tribe to Tribe, 

kwards and forwards, in his changing wake, 
But for this promis'd kingdom. If he be 
The true Messiah and our hop'd-for Prince, 
Why does he not ascend his throne in glory 
And make us lords and rich? 

Mdgd. Bethink thee, Judas, 
How he reprov'd Salome. Yet who else, 
If not his kinsfolk, might aspire so well 

him. if that throne and glory 

■e of this earth. If then both James and John 

be he ! — Look not so aghast. 
r;iuse of anger. In his ear 
Tl what had respect to me; 

For both look'd on me 

Mdgd. What was said? Why pause! 

Why art thou dlSCOmp 

bhe lamp 



ACT II. SC. 2. 17 



Deepens the shadow on my face, as thine. 

It will go out. Hast thou no oil to feed it ? 
Magd. None. Mind it not. The moonlight through the lattice 
* Will be enough. 

Judas. No oil, no food, no fire ? 

And I have nothing — or dare touch no more. 

"Wbat wonder I am discompos'd? 

Magd. But that 

Is not the cause. Thou wast at entering. Judas ! 

What was there said against thee at the feast ? 
Judas. How should I know ? The Master had pronounced 

That one of us — did evil. All inquir'd, 

But only unto John was answer given, 

And that was whisper' d ; and John look'd at me. 

I shortly slipp'd away, and, in a word, 

Thou mayst imagine it, being put to shame 

Before them all. 

Magd. Believ'st thou, Judas dear, 

It was because of me He found thee evil ? 
Judas. No, as thou wast forgiven a greater sin, 

When the chaste rabble brought thee out to stone ; 

And now being husbandless Why dost thou weep ? 

Thou knowest I love thee, Mary, and should love, 

Hadst thou thy seven devils in thee still. 

This is so small an imp. thy care for me ! 
Magd. It is for that I weep, not that thou mock'sc me, 

For there is something bitter in thy smile 

That marks thee ill at ease. 

Judas. It is the cold. 

It is that sinking lamp which makes me grim. 



IS CALVABY. 



T will leave us Boon in darkness, [a it that 
KCakea thee bo pale I When hast thou tasted food? 

/. It la do matter ; I am nol 

Judas. Bpeak truly : 
When hast thou eaten I 

Mdijil. Not since yester eve. 
I, When thou hadst money! This must be no more. 
Thou shalt have food. And there! the lamp is out! 
And avo are left in darkness with the devils. 
It suits my purpose. I am now resolv'd. 
Magd, Judas ! Where art thou? Do not leave me thus! 
What is thy purpose ? What hast thou resolv'd? 
Oh Heaven ! — Thou art not gone yet. Answer me. 
Judas ! 
Judas. Thou shalt have more than food. Farewell. 



act iii. sc. 1. 19 

Act the Third 

Scene I. The Palace of the High-Priest. 

The Chief-Priest, Elders and Scribes in Council. 

Caiaphas. ISTicodemtis. 
Joseph of Aeimathea. An Eldek. 

Caia. What you propound is just. The antique pomp 

Of our God-taught religion ; the deep awe 

That fell upon the people from the Ark 

And made our function heaven-like ; the respect 

Paid to you, Elders, and the potent voice 

Of you, the wise in law ; all these, the soul 

And ornate hody of our form of state, 

Will have their power, which knows not yet senescence, 

Palsy'd with premature decay, and soil'd 

With popular contempt their grand adornment, 

If this half-craz'd fanatic be allow'd 

To gather mobs and agitate reform. 

« 
The life of our old polity at stake, 

Shall we stand timidly to face a scruple 

That, were the life of simple men involved, 

Would on the instant be o'erleap'd ? The law 

Of nature, and the law our fathers made, 

Taught by the God of Sinai, both demand 

The quenching of this firebrand, which has flar'd 

And threat en'd conflagration all too long. 

Nicod. Before we call for water, were 't not wise 



20 CALVARY. 



To inquire if the brand be realty such, 

• if it burn not with innocuous fire, 
That gives ou1 heat, hut only then destroys 
When the winds page against it : Doth the law 
made give any where the right 
sentence even incendiaries unheard? 
. T is not a question of the law ; \ is not, 
I dare to assert it, even one of right : 

is to inquire if we have in ourselves 
The power to save ourselves ; if this great court, 
Time-honored, and deserving in itself 
Of honor, lias the manhood, life yet left, 
To pluck away with its own hands the thorn 
From otit the festering body of the State, 
Or will permit the Roman intervene, 
Giving his sword new scope to lop away 
What little of autonomy remains. 
Jos. Arim. No, were there such a danger. But this man 
Aims not to stir sedition. 1 am myself 
Willi eye and ear a witness, Jesus now 
[s but what all our prophets were of old, 
f: days when we had prophets and they taught. 
And for his shall we stone him now, 

A- they ston'd prophets in the days of old ? 
] art thy- el i". as Nlcodemus here, 
ivorer of the Nazarene. (o>d grant 
nothing more. 

Nicod. What's that? 
Bis f i [fto love the right, to stand 

By the 0] though men of Galilee, 



ACT III. SC. 1. 21 



To welcome truth, good-sense and moral lore, 
Although Samaria taught them, and to own 
We never had more need of all than now, — 
If this be following, then should I he proud 
To tread in Jesus' footsteps, and as much 
I think will he of Arimathea say. 
Elder. What profits this dissension? And, in time, 
Lo, one is here who craves to be admitted 
On business of concern. 

Caia. Let him come in. 

Enter Judas Iscaeiot, conducted hy an usher. 

Nicod, [to Jos. Arim.'] What a vile look he wears ! I have 
seen, methinks, 
That face before, but surely not, as now, 
Troubled and full of mischief. 

Jos. Arim. 'T is the awe 
Inspired by our assemblage. On he' comes, 
Abject, but throwing furtive looks around, 
Full of an evil meaning. Surely too 
I have seen him elsewhere. 'T is — one of the twelve 
That follow Jesus constantly. 

Nicod. Thus here, 
And with that look, his coming bodes no good 
Unto his Master. 

Jos. Arim. Hush ; they have made him stop. 
And now the high-priest waves his hand. 

Caia. Stand there. 
Fellow, who art thou? And what brings thee here? 
Judas. A matter of grave import to the State. 



CALVARY. 



Bo we were told ; else hadsl thou not got in. 
Bpeak out. 

las, 1 am a follower, or have boon, 
Of Him of Galilee. 

( 'aia, A traitor, Ihen. 
xxL [to Jos. Arim.] ISTo doubt. 

Judas. I am not to the Sanhedrim, 
Nor yet to Rome. 

Caia. Thou art bold. 

Judas. 1 have need to be 
Who come on such a work. 

Caia. And thai } 

Judas. To give 
Into your power the Master. 

Caia. Jesus? 

Judas. Him. 
. What are thy motives? What dost thou propose? 
Bpeak quickly ; and be brief. 

Judas. Despair, disgust, 
Resentment, want of money: there you have 
My motives, if I know them. You desire . 
To arreel the Rabbi Jesus. 

Caia. Without noise. 
. 1 understand it bo, and so propose. 
What will ye give me if within the hour 
I make you masters of his body? 

Caia. Bow? 
•wing where he may be found alone, 
Or with his followers only. 

. Thou shalt have 



ACT III. sc. l. 23 



Thirty full shekels. 

Judas. 'T is a niggard price. 

NicodL For a vile object. 

Judas. Is the object vile, 
Why then employ me ? 

Caia. Thou art not suborn'd. 
Know, thou irreverent fellow, that with thee 
The object may indeed be vile, and is ; 
For thou betrayest who trusteth thee, and makest 
Thy friend's sore damage turn to thy behoof. 
With us, who are the guardians of the State, 
And the ordain'd custodians of its laws, 
The act of using thee, whereby we save 
The State from jeopardy and check i' the midst 
The infraction of the law, is worthy praise. 
Tak'st thou the shekels? lendest thou thy aid? 
Speak. But be cautious in thy phrase. 

Judas. I had 
No thought to be irreverent. Forgive me. 
Why should it be accounted in me vile, 
That, seeing my error, and enamour'd still 
Of the fair faith our fathers taught, and tired 
Of vagabondage, fearing too the ills 
Which the free doctrine of the poor man's rights, 
Encourag'd in his envy of the rich 
And taught to deem himself preferr'd of Heaven, 
Might cause in our sedition-loving race 

Caia. Tak'stthou the thirty shekels? Ay, or no? 

Judas. It is too little for so great a work. 

Caia. Then we arrest thee as confederate with 



24 CALVABY. 



The dan ralilean. Take thy choice, 

Betraying or betray'd. 

las, 1 ha\ e no choice : 
Bhe whom I cherish wants for common bread. 
■. That concerns thee, not as. Tak'st thou the price? 

I, Thou abject wretch! reserve thereof 
One gerah for a cord to hang thyself. 
. Go wait without. But first — respond to this: — 
If, as is said, this Jesus is not mark'd 
By any special Bign, and docs not lead 
But mixes with his crew, how shall the band 
We send to arrest him know him in the night? 
Judas. By the devotion which surrounds him still 
Whatever his place in the midst of ns; so that, 
As with all other leaders, there, that place, 
None other, is the head and centre-point. 
Besides, there is a something in his mien, 
A look in the eyes, profound and sad, 

Into whose depths thongh clear no eye can pierce, 
As in the Sea which God loves, 1 and whose gaze, 
When fix'd npon you, hoik- can bear: nay, more, 
Tip a singular light that pL 

Like moonshine o'er his visage 

Gala. Driveler, peace! 
We ask not for thy fancies. Wilt thou tell ns, 

• thee, Moses on the Mount 
Was Dothing more transfignr'd ? Give some sign 
That will not, like thy risage-moonlight, vanish 



ACT III. sc l. 25 



Before our lanterns. Thou thyself shalt lead : 
How wilt thou mark him ? 

Judas. Is that needful? 

Caia. Ay. 
By what act wilt thou make thy Master known ? 

Judas. I rather would forego 

Caia. Thy money then, 
And be thyself arrested? Take thy choice. 
Judas. Me miserable ! — Whom then — I salute — 
On meeting, with a kiss, — that same is Jesus. 

Caia. Go wait without ■ 

Nicod. Thou wilt not trust this wretch ? 
Caia. ISTo, I will use him. Thou, and Joseph here, 
Alone I think of the whole Sanhedrim, 
As their approving nods and signs attest, 
Would let the occasion by. — Thou, wait without, 
And when the guard appear, do as thou sayest. 



26 CALVABY. 

S. BNB II. 

77//' Garden of Getksemane. 
Jssus. 

Simon Peter. John. James. 

ft we* Tarry ye at the gate; I must apart. 
My bouI is very heavy, even to death. 
Can ye watch here a little while? 

Peter. Yea, Lord, 
Until the morning, shouldst thou hide so long. 
Jtsus. Simon, he not too sure. 

Peter. Why not sure, Lord ? 
Even James and John will watch. Shall I then tire? 
But rather let me go with thee apart : 
I have a sword wherewith to brave thy foes, 
Should any such affront thee, as thou hadest. 
Jesus. Thou diclst mistake me, 

Peter. Master, thou didst say 
That two would be enough. 

Jesus. And truly said ; 
For what would it avail though all were arm'd? 
Simon, the Devil would sift thee. Take thou heed! 
P< ter. I am as good grain, Master, as the rest. 

50 with thee, bear whal thou shalt bear ; 
Though all m m eh <1 • < rt thee, will not I. 

thou? Verily, ere the cock shall crow, 
Tl. . me thrice. 

/A d comes forward. 



ACT III. SC. 2. 27 



Poor sons of Adam ! in your own weak hearts 
Never more firm than when most prone to fall. — 
And my weak heart, does not its human blood 
Flow with a troubled current ? In this dread hour, 

{kneeling.'] 

When I need all my courage, my God, 
Father in Heaven, let me not grow faint. 
Let the brave spirit which comes of Thee aloue, 
And drew no nurture from my mother's milk, 
Aid me against the torture whose mere thought 
Already is such anguish, and whose pangs 
Seem in that forethought still more hard to bear 
In that I might avoid them ; for Thou knowest, 
Thou, and Thou only, that these death-cold drops 
Are forc'd not from my forehead by coward fear, 
Fear of a suffering which, though long, shall end, 
But by the struggle between what I should do 
And what my mortal nature prompts me do, 
Between Thy bidding which commands me stay 
And my blood's frailty which would urge me flee. 
Oh it is fearful ! Help Thou, Father ! God ! 
This cup, which is so bitter, if thou canst, 
Take from me ! But Thy will, not mine be done. 

After some minutes, Jesus rises. 

Simon! But he is sleeping; and the rest. 
So brief a while, and yet not watch for me ! 
For me, for whom they were so prompt to die, 
And Simon most. 



28 



CALVABY. 



Luoifbb appears, 

Luctf. Who will be first to abjure thco. 
Thou hast thyself thus told him. 

Jesus. Who art thou? 
I need not question. In the glowing eyes, 
The godlike port, and the strange light that floats, 
Visible spite the moonshine, on thy shoulders, 
I road thee all, without that mocking voice 
Which brings to mind the mountain where I bade thoe, 
As I do now, Get thee hence, Satan! 

Lucif. No, 
Not then as now. I offer'd power and glory, • 
And set a price upon them. Then thy gaze 
Was made to cover at a single glance 
All of Earth's kingdoms. Now I bid thee see 
And hear but with man's senses. Look around. 
The moon is o'er the hill-top, and her light 
Floods the hush'd city and the mighty wall 
Which stood the Assyrian fire when all the rest, 
Temple and tower, went down, and David's throne 
With its weak kings, six hundred years ago. 
How peaceful! and how still ! Thou mayst distinguish 
<>fu]] sounds the bubbling of you brook. 
in a Kittle while how all will change! 
now I hear, as thou mays!, wilt thou use 
foat aiv not earth-made, martial steps; 
I see the gleam of torches, nseless sure 
In the broad moonshine, and the uncertain gleam 



ACT III. SC. 2. 29 



Of many spear-heads. 'T is the armed band 

That come to catch thee. Wilt thou wait them here ? 

Jesus, I will. 

Lucif Hast thou bethought thee, God-born, then, 
Of what the end is ? 

Jesus. Satan, I have said, 
Go from before me. Thou didst fail with Job. 
Shall I do less than he ? 

Lucif He was not tried 
As thou wilt be : I might not touch his life. 
Think' st thou the Roman will refuse to yield ? 
He will approve thee, but thou wilt be given 
To quench the blood-thirst of a frantic mob, 
That will outwatch the stars to see thee die, 
And grumble, if thou should be spar'd one pang. 

Jesus. Simon! Awake! Beloved John! 

Lucif. The cold 
Hath numb'd them. And these wretched men as well, 
Who follow thee, thou know'st, for what they hope 
Will be their gain on Earth, nor wait for Heaven, — 
Their nets, thou didst assure them, should catch men — 

Jesus. Peace, Devil! aud avaunt! 

Lucif. The Christ will pardon. — 
These to-be-sainted fishermen, as well, 
Will watch thy crucifixion, not indeed 
With the brute satisfaction of the mob, 
For in the hungry curiousness alone 
To mark how thou canst suffer and wilt die, 
Though haply some such craving, being men, 



;!<l OALVABT. 



Wfflmingle with their hearlraohe; but can they, 
"■'■" thy mother's anguish, wept she blood, 
Keep thy raw wounds from smarting, or assuage 
Ihe thirst thai burns like fire thy throat and lips? 

Father! this cup! Let not the serpent's gall 

Add to its bitterness] 

Lucif. Yet >t is honey-sweet 
Oompar'd with that thou presently shalt drink. 
Hear'st thou not yet the footsteps ? In brief time, 
Their measur'd tramp will sound without the gate. 
One of thy zealots leads them. Son of God ! 
What though incarnate, wilt thou he arraigned 
Like a vile robber and abide the law? 
I hoar thee sentence. 'Mid a rabble rout, 
Who rain on thee dire curses and foul words, 
Who buffet thee and void their filthy rheum 
On thy resistless visage, thou 'rt push'd and dragg'd 
To the high place, where nail'd on either side 
A cut-throat suffers with thee. Thou art stripped. 
I see thy body bound to the cross'd planks. 
And now large spikes are driven through thy hands, 
And through thy feet. Thick in the wintry air 
The blood flows slowly o'er thy pallid limbs 
And stiffens there. O weary, weary time I 
When death, though ^\]\ before thee, fails to strike 
Though pray'd for, and the fever in the veins 
Bri: • See, that head, 

Into whose bloody front the plaited thorns 
IV " ,,ar P points, droops lower on the chest 



ACT III. SC. 2. 31 



And spots it with the mingled sweat of death 
And tears of gore. And yet thou canst not die. 
"Will not the sun go down ? Thy parch'd lips ope, 
And while thine eyes turn languidly to Heaven, 
Yet full of agony that is reproach, thy voice 
Calls feebly unto God who lets thee die. 

Jesus. Father ! have mercy ! 

Lucif. Ask it not of Him. 
Of me thou wilt obtain it. 

Jesus. Fiend! Of thee? 

Lucif. Son of the maiden Mary and of God, 
Ere thou wast man I did defy thy power, 
And scorn'd to worship thee. Since here on Earth, 
I promis'd all the kingdoms of the Earth, 
So thou wouldst worship me. If thou wilt flee 
And leave these iu grate fools, who know thee not, 
To their own ruin, I, I will kneel to thee, 
Here on this spot, avow thee as my lord, 
And ever more do reverence. 

Jesus. If thou wilt, 
Father, I would this cup might pass from me ! 
Yet not my will, but Thine be done. 

Lucif. So be it. 
Die in thy pride and folly ; and may the thought 
Heighten thy pangs, that, though thou bleed'st for man, 
Thou sav'st him not. He is my vassal still. 
Part we, I could admire, but that my wrongs 
Breed everlasting hate and keep us foes, 
Lucifer disappears. 



CALVABY. 



my [ei over, — Angels 1 bands? 

Their fingers wipe my brow, fcheir broad wings fan me, 
Their BOfl breatfa soothes mo, and fcheir silver tones 
With whispered words of solace and of love 
Renew my courage. Am I then approv'df 

O God I my Father! since it is Thy will, 

Let me drink boldly, though the draft is death. 

He motes toward the sleepers. 
Simon, awake. The time is gone for rest. 
The hour approaches when the Son of Man 
Is given unto his foes ; and lo, at hand 
He that betrays me. [The disciples gather round him. 

Enter 

A land of Soldieks, Malcuis 

and others, Judas in advance, who presses 

hurriedly forward and hisses Jesus. 

Is it with a kiss 
Thou mak'st betrayal of the Son of Man? 
AY horn seek ye ? [to the Band. 

Match. Him of Nazareth. 

Jesus. *T is I. 
TThy fall ye back in doubt ? Again I ask : 
Whom seek yo I 

Maleh. We have said, — the Nazarene. 
. I told ye, I am he. If I alone 
Be he ye come for, lot these go their way. 
Maleh, Seize him. 

Peter, Thou villain! [wounds Malchus. 



ACT III. SC 2. 33 



Jesus. Simon, put thy sword 
Back to his place : all they that take the sword 
Shall perish by the sword. If I had need, 
Think'st thou that angels would not guard me now ? 
The cup my Father giveth shall I not drink ? — 
Suffer thus far. [to Malchus, touching Ms woitnd. 

Have ye come out to me 
As to a robber, with your swords and staves ? 
"When I was daily with you in the temple, 
Ye stretch'd not out your hands to me ; but this 
Is now your hour, and darkness hath dominion. 

They hind Jesus, and lead Mm forth, 

the Disciples fleeing, all out Petek, who 

follows at a distance. 
2* 



34 CALYAKY. 



Act the Fourth 
— As in Art IL, So, 2. 
Judas IbGABIOT. Maby Magdalene. 

Judas, IK-iv take the flint. I cannot force a spark : 
My hands are numb. 

Magd, Thy fingers are like death! 
Yet thy brow drips with sweat ! Is that from cold? 
Judas, Yea ; hasten. 

Magd, How thy voice shakes! 

Judas. Mind it not. 
The light ; quick, quick ! the fire. It is so dark — 
Is the door barr'd ? — and cold ! I had such toil 
To get these things at this late hour — Ah, so ! 
The faggots now. Canst thou put in the oil? — 
And that is why my brow drips and I tremble; 
I had to rim so fast from shop to shop, 
Finding all closed but one. 

Magd. Yet thou art cold. 
Thy running should have warm'd thee. 

Judas. And it would. 

But then the thought of thee 

Madg, Why look'st thou round ? 
Judas, Heard'sl I hon then nothi 

Magd, Nothing. This is fear. 
How pale thou look' 



ACT IV. SC 1. 35 



Judas. It is the flickering flame. 
The brands will soon cease smoking, and my face 
Will not look haggard. 'T is the thought of thee, 
Thy hunger that distress'd me, made me cold. 
Break the bread, Mary. 

Magd. I did not say haggard. 
Yet haggard 't is and pale. 'T is not the fire 
That flickers, for the lamp is burning clear. 
What is it ails thee ? 

Judas. Give me of the wine. 
And drink thyself, and eat. Eat, Mary dear. 
Xow I am warmer. 

Magd. Whence hadst thou these things ? 
Judas. What matters it ? Thou art starving. Eat, I say ; 
And here, drink off that wine. 

Magd. I will not drink, 
Nor eat, till thou hast told me whence this comes. 

Thou hast not God of Heaven ! on thy hand 

Is blood ! 

Judas. A spot. A splinter in the wood. 
Seest thou ? there is the scratch. 

Magd. Thou couldst not 



Judas. WhatS 
Dost thou suspect me ? 

Magd. Thou hast done no murder ? 
Judas. Oh no ! Oh no, no, no ! not yet. 

Magd. ISTot yet ? 
And said so gloomily. Thou hast not robb'd ? 
Judas. I would I had ! 



30 CALVABY. 



Magd, Thou wouldst thou had? And tears? 

[removing one of his hands, with loth 
which he has covered his face, 
Judas, where gott'st thou money? Till thou tell'st me, 
1 will n<>t eat thai breach nor drink that wine. 
Judas, The bread and wine are what remained to day 
After the feast. The master of the house 
Bestow'd them on me. 

Magd, Did lie give thee too 
The oil and faggots ? Thou didst let me think 
Thou gott'st them at a shop, the sole one open. 
Where didst thou get the money ? 

Judas. Fill my cup. 
And drink thou too, and eat. 

Magd, I w r ill not eat 
Till thou hast told me if the oread he honest. 
Fill thou, thyself; I cannot pour that wine. 
Xor shouldst thou drink it, if I could prevail. 
Thou tremhlest, and thy eyes are dropping tears. 

Judas, It is the smoke. I tremble with a fear 

Why dost thou doubt me, Mary ? — with a fear 
Borne evil is betiding. Heard'st thou aught 
While I was absent \ Sawest thou no sign? 
Magd What dost thou mean 8 What sign, what sound? To 

whom 
old evil be betiding? Js 't to John ? 
Judas, To all of us. How know I? It will happen 
When least we think it. 

Magd As the Master said : 



ACT IV. SC. 1. 37 



Offences needs must come ; but wo to him 

Through whom 

Judas. More wine ! 

Magd. Thou shalt not drink again : 

Thou art already wild. 

Judas. Ah, wo indeed ! 
Magd. Oh what a sigh was that ! Hast thou done aught ? 

Judas ! thou know'st I love thee. On my knees 

I do adjure thee, by that sinful love 

For w r hich I live in daily terror and grief 

That make all joy forgotten, tell me, tell, 

What is it weighs upon thy soul this night ? 

What hast thou done ? "Where didst thou get the means, 

For me unhappy, for my most wretched sake, 

To buy this oil, and wine, and bread, and wood ? 
Judas. Eat, let me see thee eat. Heard'st thou not aught ? 

Saw'st thou not aught this night ? Eat, do but eat ! 

Or thou wilt drive me desperate. 5 T was for that, 

To ease thy hunger Saw'st thou naught to night ? 

Naught from thy lattice, Mary ? It o'erlooks 

Magd. Why dost thou pause ? O'erlooks 

Judas. Eat, do but eat ! 
Magd. [springing to her feet. 

Ah ! I remember now. It cannot be — 

Thou canst not be so wicked — Oh my God ! 

Let me not hear him say it, let me die 

Not knowing of such treason ! 

Judas. Treason? What? 

What should I do with treason ? And to whom? 
Magd. Look in my eyes. Thou spak'st this very night 



38 CALVARY, 



Bitterly of the Master, and a purpose 

What money hast thou 1 

Judas; Here arc seven pieces. 
Bui take them not to the Women's Court again. 
7 . Where didst thou gel them? 

Judas, Say I borrow'd, begg'd : 
What matters it \ Eat, drink. Was that a noise? 
Magd. I heard none. T is the moaning wind perhaps. 
Judas. It sounded like a sigh. 

Magd. It was thy own. 
Tu ; i.. si bhou heav'd one, from thy inmost hreast. 
tething weighs heavy there and would have vent. 
It makes thee restless, gloomy, fearful, wild. 
Am I a child, that I should see all this 
And not conjecture? have I grown so old 
A- to forget already what, not hunger, 
Made thy stay long to me? "Whence came that coin ? 
I will not touch it till I know fully whence. 
What didst thou mean by signs and sounds? What ill 
ore betid 

Judos. There was in the street 

unor, that — the Master Ileard'st thou naught? 

I thought that, being so near the wall — 

Magd. Why pause ? 
'T is not to j tir the brands. Thou hid'st thy face. 
The ft And thai whisper'd word to John? 
Whai mdonel Thou hast not Therewcre 

ids through the trees, and armed men I thought, 
In the vale from the Mount of Olive-. Judasl man! 



ACT IV. SC 1. 39 



Thou didst not lead them ? Thou didst not betray 

Speak, if thou wouidst not kill me. Only sobs ? 

And for this money? 

Judas. "Woman, it was thou — 

Thy suffering drove me. 

Magd. Thou hast done it, then ? 

Oh, I had hopes But say not 't was for me ! 

My hunger could not make thee wicked — wicked ? 

Oh, wicked unspeakably ! A wretch like thee 

Never yet liv'd, and is not fit to live. 
Judas. Sayst thou ? This my guerdon ? Thou art right ; 

I am not fit to live. I go. But thou, 

For whose sake I have sinn'd thus, take this coin — 

All but one piece. Eat, live, be happy. There : 

It is my life's worth. 

Magd. 'T is the price of blood. 

I will not touch it ; nor the bread, nor wine. 

This fire shall not burn here, this lamp shall out. 

There. In a moment, when these embers die, 

I shall again be in the dark, and cold, 

But with a pang that will not let me feel 

Hunger or thirst. I would, ere thou hadst come, 

I had been colder, in a darker place, 

"Where is no hunger. 

Judas. Would I now were there ! 

Mary, I go. Give me that wine once more. 
Magd. Thou shalt not taste one drop. It is the blood 

Of thy good Master. Thou hast over-drunk, 

Even were it honest wine. Where dost thou go to? 
Judas. Farewell — forever ! 



40 CALVABY. 



Magd. Judas 1 Stay. Thy face 

1 see but dimly ; but thy voice, tliy Btep 

There is something makes me Bhudder. Let me hold 

thee; 
Be not bo violent Whither dosl thou go? 

io atone my guilt, to make redress, if 't may be. 
; . And save our Lord ? Oli ! do but that, but that — 
Do but that, dost thou hear me? and comeback, 
J '11 love thee as I never lov'd before. 
But take the money with thee, what is left. 
Promise the rest to-morrow, — as thou mayst ; 
We'll find it somewhere. Why so mute ? Wrench not 
Thy arm so rudely from me. Thou Vt not wroth? 
Judas. no, no, no ! not wroth. 

Magd. Thou hast no cause. 
Hasten ! But, if thou fail to amend thy fault, 
Come never more again ! 

Judas. Ay, never more! 



ACT IV. SC. 2. 41 

Scene II. 

As in Act III., Sc. 1. 

The Sanhedrim assembled. 

Jesus before them. 

Caiaphas. ISTicodemus. Joseph of Akimathea. 

On one side, three Witnesses. On the other, Malchus. 

Soldiers of the Guard, Officers of the Court, &c. 

Caia. Answer to what we ask thee. What art thou? 

"Whence is thy mission ? Is it true what men 

Allege of thee ? 

Nicod. With deference be it said, 

We have no right to make him plead, himself, 

To show what he is not, or what he is. 

If he be chargeable with grave offence, 

As I dare doubt, let the man stand arraign'd 

Until we prove it. 

Caia. Thou dost strain the law 

In his behoof. Unwisely ; for our course 

Gives him in mercy privilege to plead 

From his own consciousness, advancing all 

May best avail him and withholding aught 

That cunning would conceal. — Art thou still mute ? 
Jesus. Say I should answer you, will ye believe ? 

Or should I question, will ye make reply? 

What I have said was said unto the world. 



i'2 OAIA akv. 



In sj and temple, there, where Jews 

From all parts gather, was my doctrine taught, 
A: all timi 9, openly, in Becrel not. 
Whj ask ye then ofmel A-k them wlio heard me. 

they will know to tell you what J taught. 
.'(. [striking him. 
What ! to the High-Priest mak'st thou answer thus? 

Havel -poke evil, witness to that evil. 
h I said what was well, why smit'st thou me? 
'. I- this an outrage to be tamely borne? 
Are we a court? or shall the Sanhedrim 
Allow the robe of justice to be soil'd 
By ruffian servitors? The culprit's tone 
Was nothing bolder than becomes a man, 
A man so question'd; if to be reprov'd, 
Censure should come of us, not in the form 
( U scoundrel violence. 

Caia. Malchus, leave the hall. 
Tk; rviceable zeal, albeit 

Rightly inspir'd, revolts the prophet's friends. 
Bring the first witness. What hast thou to urge? 
Witn. This fellow call'd himself the Son of God. 

hy insolent levity, unto us 
Much more dishonoring than to him, the arraigned, 
Heard'st thou this said thyself? And when? And 

wh- 
ine the fact. The Sanhedrim 
N U i written, "I have said 

Vr are gods, and children of the Highest, all." 



ACT IV. SG. 2. 43 



Could this apply to many, surely one 
Who cloth, or claims to do, the righteous works 
Enjoin'd by Him who is Father of all men, 
May speak as is reported, nor blaspheme. 

Jos. Arirn. I am a witness as to the intent 

And meaning of those words. 'T was in the porch 
Of Solomon, when the people took up stones 
To slay him for the imputed crime here urg'd, 
That he di^prov'd it, citing the same phrase 
Which Mcodemus hath. 

Caia. But was this all ? 
What hast thou else to charge ? 

1st Witn. We took up stones 
Because he claimed that he and God are one. 

Jos. Arim. Further misapprehension. Heard I not 
How he said elsewhere, when one call'd him good, 
" There is none good but one, and that is God?" 
My testimony weighs at least as much 
As this coarse fellow's. 

Caia. But may be more bias'd. 

Bicod. Ever, I trust, toward truth and common right. 

Caia. That is a matter of opinion now, 

But will be soon of judgment. Honest man, 
Hast thou more evidence ? 

1st Witn. This Jesus said, 
Once in Capernaum, that his flesh was bread, 
That he would give us of this bread to eat, 
And that it came from Heaven. Whereat, not few 
Of his own followers left him. 

Nicod. What is that, 



44 t AI.VAKV. 



D if 't be true 1 Mo>t palpably the sense 
Is moral. Taken at the letter's worth, 
It were a madman's utterance, and could claim 
v - ation on our part. 

Caia. BaT6 to corroborate the facts addue'd. 

Call the next witness. What hast thou to state, 

Of thy own knowledge ? 

2d Witn. That this Jesus claim'd 

To have been before our father Abraham was. 

For which we would have ston'd him, but he fled. 

And, at another time again, declar'd : 

"Destroy the Temple, and in three days' time 

I will rebuild the same." 

Nicotl. Assertions both 

Whose quality rests on the mode of speech 

Habitual with the assertor, known to all 

To talk in figures. Give a literal sense, 

He is a god, or lunatic and fool. 

AVe cannot touch him, if he be a god ; 

If mad, or void of sense, we have no right. 
Jos. A rim. Justly remark'd. The temple meant his body. 

This I have heard his near disciple say. 

He inculcates, it is known, a future life. 
Caia, You as his friends, if not his followers, both, 

Should help the god exemplify his lesson 

In his own flesh, — as soon may be. For lo, 

A witness more unanswerable. Speak! 
id Wi acous'd, with his disciples, gather'd corn 

Upon the Sabbath-day, and, censur'd, said, 

David had more profan'd it, and the priests 



ACT IV. SC. II. 45 



That serve the Temple do it without blame ; 
Adding, " Here is a greater than the Temple," 
Meaning himself, — " for he, the Son of Man 
Is master even of the Sabbath-day." 

Elder. Horrid impiety ! 

Scribe. Pretention blasphemous ! 

Nicod. That is as it was said ; the tone is all. 
For what was said is borne out by the law 
And record. 

Caia. By the law ? Wilt thou maintain 
The law has made him master of the law? 
Or find'st thou, thou, this ape of prophets gone 
A greater than the Temple? 

Nicod. I find nought 
Before me, in that unresisting form, 
But a good man most shamefully betray'd, 
Whose zeal may be excessive, but whose claims 
To greatness, as imputed, are belied 
By his own conduct. 

Caia. Dost thou know it all ? 
Lurks there no craft beneath an artless mein ? 
Is meekness never made the facile mask 
To an ambitious spirit ? Speak once more, 
And tell the Council, man, what thon hast seen, 
What know of this aspirant — such he is, 
Humble though he stands here — to David's throne. 

Nicod. The question guides and prompts to a reply. 

Caia. Mind not the Elder. Speak ; thou shalt be heard. 

od Witn. One day he rode in triumph, and the crowd, 
Like madmen, spread their garments in his path, 



46 CALVABT. 



And Bhouted 

Nicod, Where was this \ 

&d Witn. Upon the way 
From Bethphage to the city. 

Nicod, Thau wast there? 
I was. They shouted : " Blessed be the king 
That cometh in the Lord's name ! Peace on earth 
And glory in the highest." When rebuild, — 
A- some there hade him chide them — I was oue, — 
This Jesus answered: " Should these hold their peace, 
The very stones beneath us would cry out." 
. ■ 1 is a clear case. 

Scribe. So think we all. 

Nicod. Why then, 
When, at another time, the rabble strove 
To make him king by force — this can be prov'd, — 
Why did he flee? 'T was nigh Tiberias, 
Over the Sea. lie fled, and hid himself. 
. The people then did seek to make him king? 
So orach is prov'cL 

Nicod. But not that 't was his fault. 
Oaia. Proceed, [to Witn* 

Zd Wlii,. He assttr'd the Twelve that make his train, 
That, when he crime to glory, they should sit, 

mselves, upon twelve thrones and judge the Tribes. 
'. What more is needed ] 

Eldi /'. Let him be condemn'd. 
'. Upon this evidence I The wry words 
; \)Y the witness mark the innooent sense 
icua'd, Bapposing he I hus spake. 



ACT IV. SC. 2. 47 



His glory is not of this world ; the thrones 
Are seats in Heaven. 

Jos, Arim. Else, let the witness say, 
Who has learn'd so much, why, as is known to all 
The twelve he calls the train, the Nazarene 
Befus'd the sons of Zebedee their choice, 
When, in their ignorance of this mystic sense 
Which Kicodemus hath so well divin'd, 
Their mother pray'd him that the two might sit 
On either hand of him in that new realm. 
What was his answer ? 'T was not his to give, 
But theirs for whom his Father had prepar'd it. 
Caia. Atrocious blasphemy ! 

JSficod. Be it, if thou please. 

But, if not so design'd 

Caia. Ye Scribes and Elders, 
Priests who with me look on the law of God 
As violated in the lightest act 
Of all ascrib'd to this mad Mazarene, 
Why need we sit here longer ? Is 't your will, 
As mine, to pluck this irritating thorn 
Instantly from the body of the State, 
That it may rest, and we put off the dread 
Of being endanger'd with our conquerors worse, 
Ye will not give to Mcodemus here 
And Joseph, who is, like him, sway'd at least 
By predilection for the dangerous ways 
Of this smooth-tongued and subtlest instigator 
Of the bad passions of our mutinous race, 






1- CALVABY. 



Ye will not give them time to argue more 

In such a cause. 

Elder. No, we have heard too much. 
'. Ay, from this Jesus, who lias rons'd your hate 
I»y openly denouncing, at all times, 
Your white-wash'd irreligion, the false pomp 
Of a knee-homage, and your empty vaunts 
Of charity where lives but self-conceit 
And pitiless avarice and revengeful pride. 

Had he but left your vices unreprov'd 

Oaia, Let him say no word more. 

Elder. Ay, and take heed. 
Nieod. Of what? from whom? 

Jos. Arim. [apart to Kicod.] Be cautious ; 't is in vain. 
Nicod. [to Jos., but aloud. 

Art thou so lukewarm? Were I not to speak 
Against this violence done to sense and right 
And decency, in this innocent person's words, 
" The very stones beneath me would cry out." 
. Enough. The prisoner's friends have pleaded long: 
Why is he mute himself? By that dread name 
Thou dosl profess to reverence with ourselves, 
I charge thee, tell as, art thou then the Christ? 
' it. 

'. That our ears should hear these words! 
. Take him to death. 

8 ribe. On to the Judgment, on! 

Jkbu£ ti b ' ■' out) amid tJu scoffs and mockery of the 
e / ieing qftery—ichen, 



ACT IV. SC. 2. 49 



Enter Judas Iscariot, 
forcing his icay through the Servants of the Court. 

Judas. Stop me not ! 'T is on life and death. Way ! way ! 
I must to the Senate. 

Caia. Fellow, what is 't now ? 
Judas. Take back your silver ; what is wanting there 
Will be made good to-morrow. I have lied. 
I have betray'd the innocent blood. Set free 
The Eabbi Jesus, and take me instead. 
Caia. If thou hast lied, that is thy own affair. 
Take up thy hire, and with it get thee hence. 
'T is nothing to us now, no more than thou. 
Judas. Let it lie there then. — I have kept one piece, 

As thou didst counsel, [to Nicod. as, on going out, 
Judas passes him. 

Nicod. No, not now ; not now. 
Go home, unhappy wretch, and make atonement 
By a new life. 

Judas. I have promis'd — ■" Never more." 



50 CALVABY. 

Scene IIL 
■'/ without the palace of the High-Priest, 
Peter, weeping. 
Enter hurriedly, Jornsr. 

John. I have come to seek thee. Why dost thou weep here? 
They have dragg'd Him to the Judgment-Hall. Come, 
conic ! 

J\ t< r. I am weeping not for Ilim. Didst tliou not hear 
How he foretold I should deny him thrice? 
1 felt ill-treated then. But, wo is me ! 
I am weaker than I thought. 

John. What hast thou done ? 

Peter. I stood below in the Hall where thou didst leave me, 
And when they said that I was of his men, 
In fear denied it. Then the cock crew loud ; 
And the Lord, turning round to where I stood, 
Look'd for a moment at me. But that look ! 

John. Well mayst thou weep. We all are weak. But one, 
One only has been devilish ; and that one 
Repented, and hath made atonement. Come! 

Peter. What, what atonement ? Judas? 

John. Hasten. Yes, 
Judas has taken his own life. On the way, 
I will tell thee what I have heard. Come, Simon, come I 



ACT IV. SC. 4. 51 

Scene IY. 

The Qdbbatha or Pavement. 

In the tackground, Pontius on the Judgment-seat, attended oy 
his officers and lictors. At his right hand waiting, a little 
apart, a Servant of his household. The chief members of the 
Sanhedrim — among them, tut aloof and moving reluc- 
tantly, Nicodemtts and Joseph of Akimathea — are ap- 
proaching the Pavement, to arrange themselves on either side, 
the People following, to place themselves in front. 

Pontius, [his face half-turned to the Servant. 

Tell her, her dreams accord with my day-thoughta 
I will do what I can ; but the High-Priest 
Is bent on his destruction. Lo, they come, 
And wait me od the Pavement. Mark thou that ! 
These bigot Jews will not approach my house, 
Lest they cootract pollution from a Gentile, 
But meet me when without ! Go tell her that, 
And bid her hope for nothing from such fools. 

Jesus, 

guarded, is led up through the crowd, and made 

to stand in the centre of the Pavement, 

tefore the Judgment- seat. 

Caia. Behold the Nazarene. The tetrarch Herod 
Eemands him unto thee. 



CALVAET. 



Pont Because, like me, 
He funis no fault in him. Musi I again 

over the same grounds with like result? 
He does not merit death : I will chastise him, 
Then set him free. 

Jesus. Take heed to what thou dost; 
For with what measure thou shalt mete to me, 
It shall ho meted unto thee again. 
Pont, Threat'nest thou me? 

Jesus. I have no will to threaten, 
But I have power given me to forewarn. 
Thou art a man who art not idly cruel, 
But, where thou think' st there is need, thou dost not 

stop 
Were 1 t for ten thousand lives. Beware thou then, 
£Tor lend thyself to cruelty that pleads 
No pretext like thy own ; for God decrees, 
In retribution, violent ends to those 
Who practise violence. 4 

Pont. If I set thee free, 
Wilt thou go home unto thy mother now, 

I brethren, and, thy own good seeking only, 
Keep from all business that is not thy own? 
. My business is my Father's. He who doth 
His will Who is in Heaven, the same to me 
My m r and my brother. 

-. Thou seest ; he will not own himself the son 
Of the dead carpenter, though all the world 
A.bou1 him know it and have seen him work 



ACT IV. SC. 4. 53 



At his mean trade. What sayst thou, fellow ? who 
Art thou in fact ? 

Jesus. The faithful shepherd, come 
To lay his life down freely for his flock. 

Caia. That will be seen. Most noble Pontius, end 
This mockery. This person breaks, has broken 
For years our laws, he makes himself to be 
The son of the Most High, profanes our Sabbath, 
Derides the priesthood. For these crimes alone 
His life were justly forfeit : but he is 
The cause if not the inciter of sedition, 
Proclaim'd by the idle, ignorant throng, that gather 
About him everywhere, to be their king, 
The prince of the House of David, whom the prophet 
Foretold should come to build us up again 
Our ruin'd kingdom, and the sceptre wresting 
From conquering Eome restore it unto Judah. 
Already in the Wilderness they sought 

Compulsively to make him king. 

Jesus. Why need 
Compulsion, were my kingdom of this world? 

Caia. Break'st thou my speech ? — Because, in his own 
words, 
His time was not yet come. 

Pont, [to Jesus.] And is that true ? 
Hast thou this wild ambition to be king ? 

Jesus. Ask'st thou this of thyself? Or speak'st thou thus 
As they who accuse me ? 

Pont. Am I then a Jew ? 



5 I CALVAKY, 



They, who have brought thee hither thus arraign'd, 

Are thy own people. Js their censure just? 

h Let my acts answer. He, who for himself 

Bpeaketh and acteth, seeketh his own glory; 

But Beeketh he to glorify alono 

Him who has sent liim, he is wholly true 

And doth uprightly. 

Nicod. Xoble Pontius, hear. 
The charges that arc made against this man 
Have not one been sustained. Nor thou, nor Herod 
Find ought in him to punish. That the rabble 
Should seek to make him king — if that be so, 
May at the time give trouble and vex the State ; 
But is the fault in him? and should we ever 
Make innocence suffer? 

Pont. I have, as thou must see, 
No wish to punish, as I find no cause. 
But your own rulers find one, and insist. 

( r aia. Art thou a friend to Caesar, thou must condemn. 
This man is hostile to the rule of Cffisar. 

Nicod. lie paid the tribute-money at Capernaum. 

Jos. A run. And with this phrase, which in itself alone 
Defines Ins purpose and shows the realm he claims 
To b bhly : " Bender unto Crcsar 

That which is his, to God what is of God." 
'. I have said before, he but abides his time. 
Are we to wait until the serpent's Qgg 
h hatch'd i A known contemner of the law, 
Blasphemous, ions, full of guile, 

ions, a corrupter of the people, 



ACT IV. SC. 4. 55 



We find he merits death, and call on thee, 
Where only is the power, to pronounce it. 

Pont. People, — it is your custom on this day 
To free a prisoner. Two await your choice. 
One is Barabbas, a determin'd villain, 
Who rous'd you to revolt, and in the act 
Caus'd or committed murder. He is chain'd. 
The other, now before you, is a man 
Whom I esteem a teacher wise and good, 
Such as ye need, and such as in your faith 
Has in all time been common. By mischance, 
Or malice of his foes, or through a zeal 
Too warm perhaps and headstrong, brought in fault, 
He is led to this tribunal to be doom'd. 
Bid me release him to you ; for to me 
He is in no wise guilty. 

Scribe. But he is 
Before our law. Release to us Barabbas. 

Elder. And crucify this Jesus, would-be king. 

One of the People. Ay, crucify him ! 

Another. And release Barabbas. 

Pont. What ! crucify him whom you would make king ? 

Priest. They have no king but Caesar. 

People. To the cross ! 

Others. Away with him ! 

Others. And give us up Barabbas. 

Pont. The man of crime? and slay this harmless one ? 
Look on him well. What evil hath he done ? 

Elder. He made himself the Christ. Away with him ! 

People. Away with the blasphemer ! To the cross ! 



50 OALVABY. 

'. Bring waten — Thus, before you, with your rite, 

I wash my hands of the blood you bid me shed. 
. Be it on our heads. 

People* And on our children's heads. 
Nieod. Even bo, ye madmen. 

People. Crucify! Away! 
Pont, [to the Victors.} Take him. And see they set abovo 
the cross, 

II King of the Jews." 

Scribe. Not so, but " self-call'd King." 
Pont. What I have said is said. Away. 

People. Away ! 
Others. To the cross ! 

Others. To Golgotha! 

Another. Put on the crown. 

A wreath of thorns is set on Jesus'* head. 

Scrilc. Give him a sceptre in his royal hands. 
Soldier, [putting a reed in Jesus 1 hand, and lending the 

Jcnee lefore him. 
Hail, King of the Jews ! 

People. Away with him I away! 

as is led off hurriedly, 
amid the shouts and derision of the People. 



ACT V. SC. 1. 57 



Act the Fifth 

Scene I. — A highway near and leading to Calvary*. 

Nicodemus and Joseph of Aeimatiiea. 

Approaching them in face, 

a Cextueion. 

Jos. Arim. The darkness still continues, the thick clouds, 
Black as in summer-showers when thunder rolls, 
Have yet no motion, and the wind is still. 

Kicod. Xor is there dampness. 'T seems as if the sky 
Were not spread with a level mass of cloud, 
But metal-plated, solid to the sun, 
Which hides as God forbade it to give light 
To this foul crime. 

Jos. Arim. What if he were the Christ? 

Kicod. Think'st thou ? He was a prophet at the least, 
And Heaven by this unnatural blackness notes 
Its anger or its sorrow. Who comes yon ? 

Jos. Arim. 'T is he whose servant Jesus render'd whole, 
The good Centurion. 

Nicod. Doubtless from the Mount. 
His brows are knitted and his lips compress'd, 

His head cast down. ■ Hail ! com'st thou from the 

scene ? 

Centur. Of unjust death and torture? Ay. You Jews 
Are a malignant and a stiff-neck'd race ; 
3* 



CALVARY. 



Yon know not your own fortune. Not at Rome 
Bad ire bo -lain our teachers. 

Nieod. Athens did, 
And Lol Rome's procurator, Pontius, now! 
IK- had the power to stay the insensate mob, 
But in one breath acquitted and made over 
To shame and death the man his soul approved, 
Then wasli'd his hands, — as if the innocent blood 
Could not bespot a conscience turn'd to steel 
By selfish fear and tyrannous disregard 
Of human rights. 

Centur. 'T is boldly said, but well. 
I love thee. — Let us pass that. — Go ye now 
To see the end ? 

Mcod. We do. How bears he up ? 
Centur. Like a true soldier — hero, — like a god! 
But 't is a horrid sight. I have seen men slain 
And mangled often, — felt, yet fought through all ; 
But this I could not bear. Go not, ye. 

Nicocl. Nay, 
'T is all the Ust, that is left us now to do. 
Jos. Arim. Wasi thou there from the first ? Tell, tell us all. 
Centur. On his way to the place of death, a rabble throng, 
A- usual in such scenes, preceded, follow'd, 

^allied on both sides, — some overjoy'd, 
• si::i])ly curious, — laughing, hooting, eager. 
But some there were more decent, and with these 
Were women rain'd, though low. 

Lookin Rabbi, who through all 



ACT V. SC. 1. 59 



Mov'd undistur^d, though sadly serious, said : 
" Weep not for me, ye daughters of Jerusalem ; 
Weep for yourselves and children. For, behold, 
The time approaches when they shall call blessed 
The barren, and the womb that has not born, 
The paps that give no suck. Then shall they cry : 
Fall on us, ye mountains ! and ye cliffs, 
Conceal us ! For, if in the yet moist wood 
They do these things, what shall be in the dry?" 

Nicod. Sad prophecy ! 

Jos. Arim. And true. 

Nicod. But doom'd, not less, 
Only to be regarded when found true. 

Ceiitur. Arriv'd at the fatal hill, they strip him bare, 
Disputing for his garments, which they part. 
The bitter drink is offer'd, and refus'd : 
Hero or god, but truly sacrifice, 
He will not deaden pain. His hands and feet 
Are nail'd to the cross, which then is set erect, 
Amid the shouts of the rabble, and the sobs 
Of some of the women, but without a groan 
From the poor sufferer, who but op'd his lips 
In prayer for his torturers: " Father," — thus he 

cried, — 
" Forgive them ; for they know not what they do." 

Nicod. more than human ! 

Jos. Arim. Like an angel ! 

Centur. Say, 
'T was as a man made god, a son of Jove, 



GO CALYABY. 



Alone might speak. But once be rais'd his eyes 

Slowly to Heaven ; and oh, with such a look, 

►W ami pain and resignation mix'd, 
Awful yet beautiful, my own eyes swam. 
Which have not been so mov'd since, at ten years, 
1 Baw my mother die. 

Xicod. We wonder not. 
r. Just at that moment, over all the sky 
There came this darkness, and the shouts were liush'd, 
And even the hideous gaiety and jeers — 
While the awe lasted. 

Jos. Arim. Staid'st thou there till now ? 
/•. Only at intervals. Still around the cross 
The women sit or kneel, some bath'd in tears, 
Some sobbing softly, some, their faces hid 
In their spread palms, their bodies rocking slowly 
With a continuous motion to and fro, 
While, further off, the men in various groups, 
And busied variously to while the time, 
Unwearied watch to see a brave man die. 
i. I- it near the end \ 

Centv/r. He is sinking even now. 
One of the robbers is already dead. Before 
Ye leave me, tell me, ye who know him well, 
What think ye i^ this being for whose last hour 
ape his throne in darkn 

XI cod. If not man, 
Il.-.-ply he is that Christ our prophets told 
raid come to I 



ACT V. SC. 1. 61 



Jos. Arim. But we have misred 
Their prophecies, and slay where we should worship. 
Centur. I will go back with you, and see the end. 

There have been men, the earth-born sons of gods, 
Whom Heaven's high King has chosen to dwell with 

him, 
As Hercules and JEsculapius. This 
May be of the kind. I will behold the end. 



62 I'AI.YAKY. 

>< i:\i: II. 

Golgotha or Calvary, 

Jb8U8, on tin cress. 

A' Us foot, at one side, Mary his mother, Mary Magdalene, 
Mai: hi a, and other women. Behind them, John. Peter 
James, a little more removed. — A little later, behind 
these latter, Nioodemus, Jos. of Arimatiiea and the Cex- 
TUBION, — icho, throughout, speak in suppressed tones. On 
the other side, a guard of Roman soldiers, with their Sub- 
cexturio or Lieutenant, and tiro of the Procurators Lictors. 
Tlxe People are variously dispersed on every side. Here 
and there, a few of better condition ; among ichom, and near 
the cross, the Scribe and Elder, interlocutors in previous 
scenes. 

One of the People. Thou who destroyest the Temple and 
again 
In three days buildest it, come down. 

Another. Not yet. 
The Ohrist sav'd others, or profess'd to save. 
Himself lie cannot. 

Another. If the Son of God, 
Come down, and we will worship thee. 

Scribe. Dost hear? 
King of the Jews, descend from thy high throne, 
'Hint we may look on thee and kiss thy feet. 
Elder. Those feet are bloody, and those gory hands 



ACT V. SC. 2. 63 



Look not like godhood. Yet we will believe, 

If thou wilt loose thyself and come to us. 
Centur. Noble, unniov'd, he will not deign reply. 

There is more godhead in those speechless lips 

Than any human blood can wash away. 
Nicod. But lo, his mother speaks. 

Mary. My son ! my son ! 

'What shall I do when thou art gone from me ! 
John. He heeds thee not ; his mind is far away. 
Magd. No, he looks on ye both. Alas, alas ! 

Those dying eyes ! O God ! 

Jesus. Behold, 

"Woman, thy son. And thou, behold thy mother. 
John. She shall indeed be unto me a mother, 

And I from this day, Lord, will be her son. 
Martha. Be comforted. 

Mary. Talk not to me of comfort. 

Look on those lips, — is any comfort there ? 

Those pallid cheeks blood-spotted, and those eyes 

That call in vain on Heaven. my son ! 

"Would I had never born thee for this day ; 

Or would that I had died ere it was come ! 

O Jesus ! my son ! my son ! 

Centur. Look now ! 

The end approaches. 'T is the dying thirst 

That tortures. 

Nicod. Yet the immortal soul yields not. 

His head droops lower. Was not that a sigh ? 
Mary. Speak to me once again. Dost thou not hear me i 



6 1 CALVARY. 



Dost thou yet Buffer greatly, my sou? 

■'. IK- ! nars her not. He is past human sound. 
S:i'.l lower sinkfl the head. 

Jos, Art in. He lilts it now. 
/•. There is again that look I told ye of. 
. My God 1 my God! Why, why hast Thou forsook me? 

. Hear to him there ; he calls upon his god. 
Why comes he not to aid him 2 

Sub-cent avion. Peace, thou Jew ! 
He bears him in a way to teach you all. 
This to release him. [Takes a spear from a soldier and 

pierces the side of Jesus. 
People. Hark ! he speaks again. 
. My God ! my God ! into thy hands — I yield — 
My spirit. — It is finish'd. 

Mary. Jesus i Son ! 



ACT V. SC 3. 65 

SCE1S T E III. 

As in Act Z, Sc. 1. 

Kaphael. Michael. 

Chokus of Angels. 

Chorus. 

" *T is finish'd." In the wintry air 

The blood congealing 

Is not renew'd. 

That pale head, with its thorn -encircled hair 

Matted and glu'd 

With gore-drops from the spine-pierc'd forehead 

stealing, 
Presses and crirnson-spots his shoulder bare, 
Like the stark limbs revealing 
That human sense and feeling 
Fo more are there. 



Silent, their cruel mood 

JSTo longer keeping, 

The murderers stare 

On the dead Lamb with eyes that no more rude 

With malice glare. 



CALVAR1 . 

The pall haslefl the sky; the breeze comes sweeping 

Over the Mount ; all other sounds subdu'd 
As if the slain were Bleeping, — 
Saw from the women weeping 

Around the rood. 



O for the wo we bear! 
The Lord of Heaven 
By angels view'd 

Between two sinful men stretch'd bleeding there, 

Mangled and nude. 

O for the wo ! lo, they to whom 't is given 

The Incarnate God for sepulture prepare. 

The Mother sits heart-riven, 

Weeps the frail Mary driven 

Nigh to despair. 



Triumph now Hell's grim brood, 

In harsh song yelling 

Their blitheness rare. 

They see but shame and torture in the rood, 

Wo and despair. 

But other sounds will shake their flame-girt dwelling, 

When from the vault the Lord, with power indu'd, 

Return- to Heaven, dispelling 

The grief our hearts now swelling, . 

With happier mood. 



ACT V. SC. 3. 67 



Baph. HelFs joy is futile as our wo in Heaven, 
And more unmeet. 

It is our triumph now and their defeat. 
The heart of Mary may with grief be riven ; 
But in that pallid, blood-stain'd human shape, 
The Almighty Father sees His Chosen One, 
The Lamb through whose atoning blood escape 
Eve's forfeit race, even those by whom is done 
This deed of shame, and owns with joy the Son, 
Whose fight with mortal trials, well begun, 
Is now complete. 

Mich. Wait not until the Sepulchre shall ope : 
Now, now rejoice. 

Those livid limbs need not the hue of hope 
To color them with beauty like the rose, 
And the red wounds, through which no longer flows 
The Virgin's blood, 
Have each for fallen man a voice, 
Would he but listen, loud as Ocean's flood. 

Baph. Deep in the listening skies 

The accents penetrate : Eejoice! it cries. 
Ascends to grateful Heaven the tone, 
The death-cry of the slaughter'd one, 
The Lamb of Sacrifice. 

Mich. And lo, the awe-hush'd Seraphim 

Lift up the clos'd lids of their glowing eyes. 
And soon their rapture-breathing song shall rise 
In ecstacy of grateful love to Him, 
The Light from its own brightness dim, 



G8 CALVAEY, 



The Source Unseen where, bubbling to tlic brim, 
The Fount of Being lies. 
Baph. And Bee, the eternal lights divine 

Thar circle round the aye-hidden Throne, 
Orb within orb of lire, 
Begin with wonted blaze to shine. 
The flame within, whose awful glare alone 
No Seraph's eyes dare gaze upon, 
Will upward soon aspire. 
Mich. And hark, again the ecstatic tone 
Struck from each golden lyre ! 

Ciiouus. 

Joy in the Highest ! Ere 
Earth's star has risen 
Three times, the tomb shall tear 
Open its prison. 

Then shall the Lord appear 
In his soul's whiteness, 
No crown his brow shall wear, 
Only its brightness. 

Not while the World shall last 
Men shall more view him, 
Not till the trumpet's blast 
Summons them to him. 



ACT Y. SC. 3. 69 



Then shall the gates of Hell 
Open more never, 
Then shall the righteous dwell 
With him forever. 



Oh come, thou welcome time, 
When the Lord, risen, 
Leaves the World's wo and crime 
With the tomb's prison ! 



Scene IV. 

As in Act IL, Sc. 1. 

Lucifer. Beelzebub. Chorus of Evil Spirits. 

Chorus. 

Flames that circle Hell, 
Lift jour waves rejoicing, 
With your roar loud- voicing 
What we feel so well, 



70 CALVARY. 



O'er the wo of Heaven, 
Whence we felL 

For the deed is done. 
In the Earth's chill air, 
Naked. nailM, and bleeding, 
Stretch'd upon the tree, 
Suffering pains exceeding 
Those we hourly bear, 
Pains the Christ might shun, 
AVilFd he to be free, 
See stretch'd bleeding there, 
On the midmost tree, 
'Twixt a robber pair, 
God's anointed Son. 
On his pain-drawn brow 
Beads of sweat are lying, 
With the blood-drops vying 
Oozing large and slow 
Through his thorn-crown'd hair. 

See that head droop low ; 
See the red stream falling 
Down his side, and now 
Ilear his pale lips calling, 
Culling Heaven to spare, 
In a prayer, 
Where if human weakness, 



V 



ACT V. SC. 4. 71 



Conquering his meekness, 
Forces not a groan, 
Yet is all the tone 
Of despair. 

Ah, the head droops lower, 
Ah, the blood drops slower, 
Listless is his air. 
Look, ye sons of Heaven ! 
"We, the unforgiven, 
Do we triumph there ? 
"Wounds that we are feeling 
Find therein their healing, 
Though that blood be sealing 
Our despair. 

Let the tomb close o'er him, 
Let his Saints deplore him, 
Hosts in Heaven adore him ; 
Ours is not the loss. 
"Weary though we languish, 
Though with heart's pain aching. 
Yet our woes find slaking 
In the sweat and anguish 
Of the Cross. 



Lucif. Peace, thoughtless that ye are ! 'T is true I said 
The Incarnate God was dying, true, is dead. 
But this is not our triumph ; and your song, 
So ill elate, 



OALVABT. 



Should rather wail the (load, whose human fate 

free mankind and makes your chains more strong. 
: How should that be? The disappointed Jews, 
Who look for their Messiah in a king, 
Even common faith refuse 
To all the man-god's works, and lend no ear 
To what their prophets sung, and, should he rise 
Before them all, would close their bigot eyes, 
And to their disbelief more closely cling, 
Though they should angels hear. 
/'. T is not the risen Christ, the dead I fear. 
Those wounds, that sweat, that dying cry to God, 
These are the traits which in all time to come 
Shall make him lov'd wherever man has trod, 
And keep the skeptic dumb. 
The soul that had its sorrows like their own, 
The Virgin Mother that bewail'd her son, 
The tortar'd flesh, the heart-wrung prayer, the groan, 
By these will faith be won. 
Man keeps for man alone his sympathies, 
And truly follows only what he sees. 
Before the God unseen, the Christ ensky'd, 
The knee may worship, but the thoughts run wide : 
But paint the blood-stainVl rood, or, scene more mild, 
The earth-born Mother with her sleeping Child, 
The heart then bends, self-love, enlarged, refin'd, 
Lends Its warm color to the colder mind ; 
Each woman smiles as Mary's self has smil'd, 
And nobler man his steadfast spirit's pride 
And suffering frame, where torment is beguil'd 



ACT V. SC. 4. 13 



By sense of wrong inflicted and defy'd, 
Sees in Christ crucify'd. 

Beclz. Fades then our hope in air ? Not such of late 

Spok'st thou this god. Now stoop'st thou to admire ? 

Lacif. Ay, without stint, though all the while I hate. 
Shall I be blind where roope-ey'd mortals see ? 
'Were I not what I am, I would be He. 
And yet, I fling defiance unto fate, 
Here, in this realm of fire, 

Where even though thou, and all, of wo should tire 
And bend in penitence the adoring knee, 
I am what I have been, and dare be free 
Despite both Son and Sire. 
No, all is as before. Though Christ has bled, 
Yet Man shall not yet bruise the Serpent's head. 
He who has once beguil'd can still deceive, 
And Adam's heirs are yet the sons of Eve. 
Some will be better'd, but, while tongues adore, 
Man's carnal heart beats stubborn as before. 
The common work none perfect, all begin, 
And what the Christian worship, yet to be, 
Shall bid men flee from as the Devil and Sin, 
Shall tempt, delight, and torture, o'er and o'er, 
And, like their Mother, make them slaves to me, 
Till the last Conflagration sets them free, 
And time, and Earth, and Hell shall be no more. 

Beelz. Then raise again your joy-song as before, 
Ye Spirits who float upon this sulphurous air, 
And pierce the Heaven, which was your home of yore, 
With notes of exultation and of scorn ; 
4 



CALVABY. 



For grief shall find an echo even there, 
While Adam's sons of Adam's flesh arc born 
And Eve's frail kind Bhall suckle those they bear. 

Ohobtjs — in the distance. 

Flames that circle Hell, 
Lift your craves rejoicing, 
AYith your roar loud-voicing 
What we feci so well, 
O'er the wo of Heaven, 
Whence we fell. 



NOTES 



NOTES TO CALVARY 



1. — P. 6. Since the hid daggers of my faithful men, &c] 'T8aTa>z> 
5e e-n-aycoyriy ets to. 'UpoffoXvpa, k. t. A. In brief, thus : Pilate intro- 
duced water into Jerusalem at the expense of the sacred treasure. The 
Jews took this in dudgeon, and in great crowds — which the historian 
has exaggerated into myriads (ttoWcu . . . jjLvpiaSes) endeavored to force 
him by their tumult to desist, using even personal abuse. The Proc- 
urator thereupon had some of his soldiers dressed in the Jewish garb, 
who carried cudgels under their habits (ovcyraAas viro rais (rroXais) ;* 



* 1,<vra\asis translated by Hudson (Oxon. in fol. 1720. t. ii. p. 798) " sicas," 
and by "Whiston with the corresponding, " daggers." But the word cannot sig- 
nify, in this place, anything but either scourges (leathern : Th. ctkvtos, corium) 
or cudgels; and I see G-elenius gives it this latter sense: "clam armatos 
fusiibus" (Aniiq. fol. Lugd., 1566): the correctness of which is confirmed by 
another account of the same affair in the History, where Josephus uses the 
word £uAoig, which indicates the very material, wood (sticks), though that the 
use of the dagger, or of the short Roman sword, is implied, might be sup- 
posed from what the historian subsequently says, when recording the result : 
wore ao7rXot XiqjiBevres vn avSpoiV e< 7rapao7cei>7}s em<f)epop.ev(t)v, 7roAAoi p.ev 
avruiv ravrr\ k*i aire 6 vrjtjKOV, 6t fie kcu rpa.vp.ari.ai. arexwpTja'ay. But unfortu- 



NOTES TO 



4 



And when the assemblage refused to disperse, these men, at a prccou- 
gnal, began to lay about them indiscriminately, and with a 

rity that transcended their orders. The Jews with their national 
obstinacy persisting, the soldiers, it would seem, for it is not directly 

tied, used their ordinary weapons against the unarmed multitude, 
so that many perished and others departed wounded. Jos. Antiq., lib. 
xviii. c. o. ex ed, Richtbr, in 12mo. Lips. 1826. t. iv. p. 131, *£. 



2.— P. 7. To AnHpasfor sentence] Two of the other readings may 
serve to elucidate the text. 



■ Send him then 



To Antipas. I would have peace rcstor'd 

Twist him and me ; and this man, thus remanded, 



nately for this supposition, Josephus has, in his usual way, with some varia- 
tions and contradictions, repeated, as I have said, the story in his Wars, and 
there wc have not only a renewed evidence of Pilate's moderation, who posi- 
tively forbid the use of the sword (£i$ei /xev xP^cracrflai noiXvcras), but the result 
is made to arise solely from the cudgeling and from the precipitation of the 
crowd who trod down one another in their flight : TunTo/xevoi Se 6t IovSouoi, 
7roAAoi ij.€v vno Tiov Tr\r}yu)v, nok\oL Se vtto cr(f)iov OLVTUJV ev 177 <}ivyr) KaTanaTfjOev 
re? clttoXujvto. Bell. Jud. Lib. II. c. ix. § 4. p. 219. t. vi. ed. supra cit. As there 
is a doubt however,— for here too the soldiers are described as armed, — I have 
chosen that phrase which suits best my occasion. 

I may add that Euscbius, who quotes this passage from the Ilistory entire, 

'. Eccles. II. c. vi. p. 154, sq. t. xx. Patrologix Grxc. ed. Migne. Par. 8°. 

. ) speaks of this disastrous tumult as if it were a punishment for the cruci- 
fixion of the Saviour. Was it then after that event ? But he has committed an 
error, as the commentator shows (ib.), directly before it, in ascribing alike to the 
divine vengeance the tumult occasioned by the introduction of the Roman 

gni with tli Jud. xx. ix. 2 & .3,.) whereas wc arc told that 

that happened in the beginning of the administration of Tilatc, which was 
in the 12th; Christ's bapti im. 



CALVARY 79 



"Will show the Tetrarch, when the rebel blood 

Of Galileans stain' d my soldiers' swords, 

I thought not of his rights, and meant no scorn. 

Otherwise : 

Will show the Tetrarch, 'twas not in my thought 
To invade his jurisdiction, when the blood 
Of Galileans stain' d my soldiers' swords. 

See Luke xiii. 1. and xxiii. 6, 7. and a note in Whiston at the pre- 
ceding passage of Josephus. 

S. — P. 24. ... the sea which God loves.] The Sea of Galilee. A 
proverbial expression with the ancient Jews. 

4. — P. 52. Heware tliou then . . . for God decrees In retribution vio- 
lent ends to those Who practice violence.'] According to Eusebius, who 
gives a little chapter of his History especially to the event, Pilate was 
reported to have fallen, in the reign of Caius, into such calamities, that 
in sheer desperation * he became his own destroyer and self-punisher, 
vindicating thus the divine justice : ttjs betas, &s eo*Ke, Siktjs ovk cis 
fjLaKpov avrov fjL€T€\frov(r7}s. Hist. Feci. II. 7. ex recens. Burton ; Oxon. 
in S°. 1845 ; p. 40. The same still more briefly in Ohronicor, Lib. II. 
(ap. Migne, ubi cit. xix. p. 557-8). But here he advances as authority 



* In a note on the phrase, e£ avayK-qg, the commentator in ]\Iigne (Patrolog. 
Grxc. t. xx. p. 155) cites King Agrippa (ap. Philon. in Legal, ad Caium), who, 
having been an eye-witness of the doings of Pilate, describes his character. 
Apart from the man's natural disposition, which is said to have been unyield- 
ing, arrogant and harsh, his corruptibility, rapacity, and acts of oppression, and 
of violence even to homicide, were not peculiar to him as a Pvoman governor 
in the times of the Empire. 



ROTES TO CALVABY 



tain unnamed writers of Roman story — &s <pacnv ol ra 'Pcc/iaiccu 
O V yyyxpf^HCyoi — aa bolero he had ascribed the tale to certain Greek 
chroniclers, 



t What degree of credit may be assigned to Euscbius as a narrator of events 

may be judged by what Sealigcr says : "Euscbius, quo nullus ecclcsiasticorum 

urn plura ad historiam Christiomsmi contulit ; nullus plura errata in 

La reliquit, &c— (in Elcncho Trihccr. c. 27. Veter. Teslim. c. Euseb. 

in Patrol. Qrxc* t. xix. p. 98.) The same (ib. cit.), assigns him much reading, 

but little judgment. 



VIBGINIA 



MDCCCXLVII 



OHABAOTEBS 

Primary 

Lucius Iohjub, plebeian oftrtbunitialrank. 
APPIUB OlaUDIUB, chief clt con vir. 

1 senators of consular rank. 
Liens A ALKKIU8 PoTITUB, \ hostile to the Decemvirs and 
MABOUfl Horatius Babbatua, \firiendly to the rights of the 

J people. 
Sitkit's Oppius, colleague of Appius in the city. 
LuoiUB Virginits, father of Virginia. 
Maboub Claudius, client of Appius. 
Aulus Lucretius, ) senators 

Titus Quixctius, \ friends of Horatius anal Valerius. 
Pubuus Ximitorius, maternal uncle of Virginia. 

YiiMrixiA. 

I( ilia, sister of Icilius. 

Li vi a, a creature of M. Claudius. 

Of secondary importance 
2d Citizen. 
1st Citizen. 
A Matron (termed in tlie final scene 1st Matron.) 

Other persons — of no distinctive character 

Oaius N 'i'mit oeius, son of Pullius, and Virginia's cousin. 

Qunrrufl Julius, brother of Lucius. 

A Letter-Carrier (Tabellarius) of Appius. 

L i < i ll a , Virgin ia's nu rse . 

Citizens; Jfatrons; Nollcs, partisans of Appius ; Lictors ; 
nger in icaiting ; a Herald or Crier . 



J r a/rious places in Home — ehirfy at the Forum. 
In Art IJI.^ Sc. 3, in a diversorium (or inn) near Borne. 
Tims. JTiat occupied by the representation. 
of the early republic. 



VIEQI3STIA 



Act the Fiest 

Scene I. A room in the house of Appius Claudius. 

Appius ; Spueius Oppius ; 

with certain young Nobles, partisans 

of Appius. — At a little distance, Maecus Claudius. 

Spur. Yet, have a care ! Stretch thou the cord too much, 
It snaps i' the midst, and the recoil offends thee. 

App . Tush ! Know I not the strength of every strand ? 
'T will hear the strain. I'll force the dull mass down, 
Set my foot on it, and so keep it there, 
Till ye have drawn the string. 'T is not a hydra ; 
And if it were, we nohles in our strength 
"Wield the huge club should crush its thousand heads. 
If not, so be it ! retire ; and I alone, 
As my great-grandsire, the first Appius, swore, 
Alone icill do it! 



B4 VI1M1NIA. 



•\ And alone will fail. 
Ti. [f the people were one mass! 

Wi;h all its heads, the snake had but one body; 
more bodies, though it has fewer heads. 

App. I speak of it as it is; one mass, one head, 
Flock, if thou wilt, of many thousand sheep. 
A single man may pin them in one fold. 

A Noble. And sheer, and slaughter them. 

Spur. But then, observe, 
lie feeds them too. 'T is what the unfolded flock, 
Our people, bleat for : Give vs lands, they cry. 

Noble. - 1 nd free us of our collars. 

App. And what else ? 
Let the brutes earn their freedom first. For lands — 

When they have paid for what they browze on, why 

It is not many years since Caius Marcius 
Drove, all but single-handed, troop on troop 
Of Volscians back into Corioli, 
And fired it in their faces. Know ye why ? 
They were the rabblcment, your bleating sheep. 
He knew and scorn'd tbem. And they bent their backs, 
Because their hearts were craven and they felt 
He knew and scorn'd them. Had lie back'd one step — 
On his Mars-visage had they read one doubt — 
They had turn'd, as curs do ; and his after-name 
1 lack'd. 

/'. AVhat did it profit him? 
lit- Bhow'd the same mien to the people here — 
Flouted their tribunes — and, with all his valor, 
II- died in exile. 



ACT I. SC. 1. 85 . 



App. Ay — because lie ninch'd. 
Thou inayst look, Spurius ; 't is the naked fact. 
Did not all Rome lie prostrate at his feet, 
Bleeding, exhausted ? grovel in the dust, 
Admit his wrongs, and pray to be forgiven? 
He might have made conditions, as I would, 
And bound the rabble in their chains for ever. 

But in his heart, right royal though it was 

Why look ye frighten'd ? all your hearts, I trust, 

Are royal — that is, made for kingly rule, 

As fits a noble, though he be of Rome. 

And Cams' heart was royal, though not strong, 

Not wholly so ; it hid one tender spot. 

His wife and mother kneel'd to him ; and the face 

That scar'd a thousand foes wept woman's tears. 

Spur. "Wouldst thou have trod upon the womb that bore 
thee ? 

App. Why, no ; I see no need of that : I had bid 

The woman mind her spinning, and stepp'd over. 
By Hercules ! methinks that with my twelve 
Poor lictors, I alone could awe this mob ! 
But while our colleagues, and you, noble friends, 
Stand by our side, against our serried force 
What shall make head ? The Fabii all alone, 
Six and three-hundred only, but all born 
Patrician as are we, against a host 

Stood up and battled 

Spur. And fell down, and died, 
All to a man. 

App. Thou bird of evil omen ! 



VIRGINIA. 



shadow of thy wings, three times this hour, 1 
Bath gloom'd my Bonniesi prospect I had thought 
Thou, Spttrius, wast my righl hand. 

Spur. And I am. 
The wings thou gives! me flap before thine eyes, 
Nbl to deter, but check. The gloom they cast 
1- transient, partial, chills not, and is needed. 
Thy ardent temper spreads a light too broad, 
Too vivid on thy outward path. All shines, 
One blaze of sunlight ; crags look smooth, and chasms 

DW no disruption — where thou 'It find, too soon, 
Rocks Atlas-high, and fissures deep as Hell. 
App. Does the way fright thee? 

Spur. Scarcely more than thee. 
And 't were too late. If thou go down, my head, 
Be sure, rests not unmuffled. 

App. Now, no more. — 
Are we resolv'd? The senate, all our order, 
Will not erase one letter of their rights ; 
And the decemvirate shall not expire, 
To give place to the people's tribunes? 

All nobles. No! 
. Valerius and Horatins would say, Ay. 
App. Lucius Valerius ! Have not all his name 
Cring'd to the rabble, since the consul's day, 
Who bow'd his valiant knee to this mud idol, 

And gain'd what for it? The people laid him out! 2 

lie had not left an ounce to pay for torches, 
This | :•" <i Publicolal Odious after-name ! 

• eed'st not fear; no Claudius will deserve it. 



ACT I. SC. 1. 87 



App. No Appius has. The people, did they hate 
My grandsire, as his sire, fear'd hirn more. 
They honor'd too his obsequies, for all 
Their tribunes' clamor. Let them honor mine, 
I reck not ; but I will be fear'd as he. 
I set not, I, the goddess of the sewers 
Above high Jove ! — For young Horatius' voice, 
'T is not so potent as a tribune's veto. 

Spur. Yet has a clear loud tone that makes it heard. 
Witness that day, so recent, when our right 
To call the senate for the instant war 
Met question. Thou might'st thank Cornelius then, 
"When Lucius from the senate-porch made cry 
Unto the people, his arms about thee cast 
Sav'd thee from violence, and us both from ruin. 3 
The Fathers all, but that they hate the commons, 
Would join these madmen, and the temple's walls, 
Sacred in vain, once more reverberate 
The tribunes' thunder — haply from the throne 
Of thy sworn enemy, Icilius. 

App. Ah ! 

Thou dost remind me. — Noble friends ! to-night 
Meet we again in secret, and our plans, 
Already ripening, make mature. The sun 
Warns me we nigh to mid-day, when I sit 
For justice. Kscso, bring thy brother over. 
Thy uncle, Op'iter, shall have all he asks. 
Matins, thou wilt not fail me ? All, farewell. 

[Exeunt Nobles. 



SS VIKcilMA. 



. T was time. 

J/7<. Mos1 true. Thy evil genius, Spurius, 
Had got dominioD of thee. Was ii well, 

To cross my arguments, and fright those buys? 

Spur. Who need no Pan. Didst thou not note, thyself, 
How pale they grew i thou didst but hint at kings. 
Thou art too fiery. 

App. And thou waxest cold. 
Spur. I have had a dream. 

App. A dream ! 

Spur. 'T was at mid-day. 
I Baw the tender spot, which Marcius had, 
Spread over thy whole heart, and Rome again 
Lost to her conqueror for a woman's tear. 
App. Thou hast no mercy. 

Spur. Will the people have? 
Was there in Borne no other girl but this? 
Virgiaius 1 daughter, and the plighted spouse 
Of dread Icilius ! If the father's merit 
Wake not the mob, that will the lover's tongue. 
Were she hedg'd in with fire, 't were peril less 
To come at her. — Thou heed'st me not. I see, 
The madness which no hellebore can heal 
Will have its course. I leave thee to thy client. 

[Exit. 

App. Come hither, Marcus. Is this tiling of thine 

How didst thou name her \ 

Mar. Li via, noble patron. 
J p. [s she prepared 8 Will she go through the part \ 



ACT I. SC. 1. 89 



Mar. Th rough, aud with spirit, such as gives revenge. 
The wrong she fancies that Virginias did her, — 
Some such a wrong as one might do a fig, 
Who found it rotten, throwing it away, — 
This rankles in her heart — and that, a woman's. 
I'll answer for her. 

App. Do my lictors wait ? 

Mar. They guard the vestibule, most noble Appius. 

App. "VThile thou shalt help me to dispose my mantle, 4 
I'll question further. — This way. — But, remember ! 
I'll have no stumbling. If she trips, her life 
Shall pay for it. 

Mar. My own upon her faith ! 



DO VIRGINIA. 

Scene II. 
Atrium, or quadrangular Hall, in the house of Icilius. 

YiKt.iNiA, with spindle and distaff, spinning wool. 

Iciua, weaving at a small loom (before ichich she stands, 
as in the antique fashion, working vptcards). 

A little distance removed, but seated, Virginia's nurse, 
winding the thread for Virginia. 

Tea. Our fears, I have heard my brother say, Virginia, 
Make omens for us, and our heart's own line 
dives accidental color to these things 
Which in themselves are nothing. Not hut Jove, 
In matters which concern the general weal, 
May give us warnings, which his augurs gather, 
From the dread thunder, or from birds and beasts : 
But that each atom of the mighty mass 
Should for its pettiest movements need, or needing, 
Receive celestial guidance, staggers sense, 
And blasphemously littles the great gods above us. 

Va. How well thou talkest! 

lea. It is Lucius, all. — 
That sweet lip's sadness, let my kiss dispel it. 
The thrill of thy heart's longing makes thee tremble : — 
Two little days, and thou and Lucius one ! 
ft si dream: thou fearest to awaken. 

Thj ■ all. The vile decemvir's passion 

;mot affright thee now. Thy valiant fathei 
Ere snnset will have come : the mej sage, 



ACT I. SC. 2. 91 



Borne by thy cousin and my brother Qnintus, 
Leaves liim no choice. 

Va. Ah, did he know the cause! 
That Koine, to guard whose honor, though already 
Defended by a thousand hearts as brave 
As his, his pious breast is bar'd in Algidum, 
Cannot from insult shield the motherless girl 
His absence orphans ! — 

lea. Better as it is. 
His wrath, already, for the people's sake, 
Kindled against the usurping Ten, might there, 
There where alone their power can reach his life, 
Burst into flame. Enough, and all too soon, 

"When he shall come. For Lucius 

Va. Never, 
never, may he know it ! 

Ica. 5 Not at least 
Till Hymen's torch is lighted, and the couch 
Here spread i' the hall bids mystery henceforth cease 
Twixt him and thee ; when the flame-color'd veil 
Deepens thy blushes, and the fring'd robe is on thee 
Whose purple border I am weaving now, 
And, girded with the woolen belt whose knot 
My brother's hand alone shall loose, thou standest 
Trembling beneath the garland-cover'd porch, 
And greet'st him with the soft yet solemn form, 
Where thou art Caius, lam Caia ; when, 
In fine, thou art plainly as in heart my sister, 
Virginia Icilii. See. Lucilla, see ! 



92 VIRGINIA. 



Her sadness lias all vanislfd ; and licr cheek — 
Low's own is not more rubious ! Happy brother ! — 
me, my sister, fed] me now. for what 
'fll thou OUT Lucius most? Is 't for his form ? 
His stately step? or for his manly brow? 
Or that he is good ? or for bis eloquent tongue, 

Or valiant heart ? or 

Va. Why not say for all? 
For all he is dear to me, as he is to thee ; 
But most for what endears him to the people : 
For his upright soul, for that be dares be just, 
Scorning all falsehood, and more proud to be 
One of the down-trod commons, from whose limbs 
With his own breast be wards the crushing heel, 
Than head of the cruel Claudii, wbose proud lords, 
From Attus down, have kept their iron feet 
Ever upon the people's neck, nor lift it 
But just so mucb as may give room to breathe. 
For this my father loves him, and for this 
lie bade me, pointing to the people's bearths, 
Where everywhere Icilius' image stands, 
Invisible but distinct, nor dreads their smoke, 
tutelar-god, he bade me, if I could, 
ake him too my house-god, by the hearth 
Of my yet virgin feelings Bhrin'd for ever; 

If on Icilias Ircast. 

— r did. 

' ' . . ] Nor art asham'd, I hope, 



ACT I. SC. 2. 93 



To liave done it. Weeping ? — Silly child ! Who 

conies ? 

Enter, from the door of the hall, Livia, meanly dressed. 
Her cloak, drawn over her head, hides her features. 

Liv. Asks that the sister of the good Icilius? 
Protector of the poor, here in his honse 
The word for the poor is " Welcome," not " Who comes ?" 
Ica. Welcome then, mother. 

Liv. I am not so old 
To be thy mother ; neither am I fit 
To sit before ye [as the nurse, at Leah heck, places before 
her a stool.] — though this slave may do it. 
Lea. Fie, woman ! If thou know'st Icilius, know 
His house permits no slight on those it covers, 
As his true heart reproaches no condition. 
What wouldst thou? 

Liv. Charity. 

Lea. That thou shalt have. 
What is thy need? 

Liv. I rent a wretched shed 
Of Marcus Claudius, the decemvir's client, 
And pander to his pleasures. Dost thou shrink, [to Va., 

who draws up to Lcilia. 
My pretty maiden ? 'T is a bold, bad man. 
Lea. Spare mention of him, and proceed. 

Liv. The rent, 
Full five denarii, Las consum'd my all. 6 
Lea. Thou shalt have money. [Exit. 



<H VIRGINIA. 



/. ' •. [to the nwte.] T is a mettled maid, 
Most like ber brother. Bui this timid child 
Bavora not of him. She is 30 near? 

i . Yet will be nearer soon, as dearer now. 

Va. Hash, my Lucillal To a stranger, tins 

I ' ■. May yet have interest. Thou art, well I see, 
The brave Virginias' daughter, and for him, 
As for Icilius, guardians of our rights, 
Foes to our wrongers, may this breast beat kindly, 
Though rude my speech — as oft with the unhappy. 
On these auspicious nuptials, Juno Pro'nuba, 
Shower down thy joys, and bless united Home ! 
Shall our Icilius — he belongs to all — 
Be happy soon ? 

Nurse, In two brief days from now. 

Enter Icilia. 

Ica, Take these few sextants for thy present need. 
Icilius, when he comes, shall give thee more. — 
Behold him ! 

Enter Icilius. 

Ieilui*. My Virginia ! Sister! What ! 

A stranger ? 
Li . [to lea.] Jove the Hospitable quite you ! 

[hurrying out, 
IciL Stay. Whythishaste? My coming should not frighten 
Whom my house renders grateful. Art thou poor? 
i am Icilius, and Icilius 1 heart 



ACT I. SC. 2. 95 



Yearns for the needy, as his weaker brethren 
Whom Heaven is pleas'd to humble, but whom men 
Must pity and love, or they most foully sin. 
Let me look on thee. Thou art of the people. 
Why shouldst thou shroud thy face ? Icilius' blood 
Boasts not that noble taint which puffs the heart 
Spite of the sepulchre ; nor has hoarded brass 
Made him wealth-swollen. So. What ! do I dream ? 

Thou art Know'st thou Yirginius? Art thou dumb, 

Yet tremblest ? Woman, I like not thy looks. 
Yet I will not condemn thee. Go in peace. 
Icilius' house is open to the poor, 
But for the vicious has no room, till empty. 
Liv. Thou art Icilius. In thy inmost heart 
Eankles the pride thou spurnest in the noble. 
Plume thy false feathers. In a little while, 
They will be ruffled, never more to smooth. 
I see the beak that 's whetted for thy gore, 
And for Yirginius' ! — Take thy niggard brass, 
Thou scornful maiden, [flinging the money towards 

lea.] May its scanty ounces 
Weigh like a thousand pounds upon thy spirit. 
To the infernal gods this house I consecrate ! [Exit. 

Icil. Weep not, Virginia ; turn not pale, my sister. 
Think ye the curses of an impious heart 
Can sway high Jove, or speed the shears of fate ? 

Va. 7 Alas, I weep not therefore, though myiieart 
Shrunk in me, quailing under her fierce eyes, 
Whose gaze made cold my blood. Icilia too, 
Forgetful of her gentle spirit, spoke brief. 



96 VIRGINIA. 



-\1 me not ; and I bid Lucius' sister: 
I oannot make my tongue belie my heart 

Ik-awn plants m us these instincts for our good. 
The dullest hound the man that likes him not 

e look; and in its nurse's arms 
The child makes like distinction, though around it 
All seem to smile and fondle it alike. 
The dog, being dumb, his vigilance retains ; 
The man, no longer mute, neglects the gift ; 
And oft the small voice of a passing doubt, 
Unlisten'd as irrational, recurs, 
Alas too late when echoed by regret. 
What troubles thee, Virginia? 

Va. To this stranger 
Thou nam'dst my father, Lucius. 

Icil. 'T was my thought 
I saw a Volscian woman thy sire knew, 
And knowing scorn'd. "What was her plea for alms ? 
Ica. She talk'd of hardship — beggary by her rent 
Paid Claudius, Appius' client. 

Icil. A strange tale, 
To have so strange an ending ! Claudius! tool 
Of the deprav'd decemvir ! — What means this? 
Why look ye one to the other so confus'd? 
W!, 1 two innocent girls know of this man? 

Tea, Virginia, I i at 

Va, No, no ! not yet ! 
I do beseech thee, my Icilia, not! 
Icil. Virginia, IS that right? When on thy finger 
I put this iron ring, plain like my truth, 



A.CT I. SC. 2. 97 



And solid like to it, I deem'd our hearts 

Were as its circle, that nor mine nor thine 

Show'd where the one began, the other ended. 

Why this reserve? 

Va. For thy sake, not for mine, 

Believe me, Lucius ! 

Icil. Is not Lucius fit 

To he entrusted with his own protection ? 
Va. Ask me no more — not now. It does not rest, 

Should not with me, an ignorant girl, to judge 

If I may speak. Before the sun he down, 

My father, sent for 

Icil. Sent for ? Who did that ? 
Ica. I did, my brother. 'T was not rashly done. 
Icil. Yet two days hence, Virginius would be here ! 

Now is it strange, that I, Virginius' friend, 

Chosen by Virginius for Virginius' son, 

Should have no voice to speak in an affair 

Seeming so urgent for Virginius' sake ! 
Va. Oh ! no, thou wilt not say so, when thou knowest ! 

Icilia, speak for me. As Lucius' spouse, 

Could I do otherwise, not self-condemn'd ? 
Ica. Had Lucius' sister else encourag'd thee ? 
Icil. Forgive me. Jealous though my mind, its trust 

Is boundless in your loves and matchless faith. 

I will have patience. Does Virginius know ? 
Va. Nothing ; and for like reason. I had pray'd 

Thou might'st be spar'd this grievance. Now, alas ! 

Thou must know all ; and from my father's lips 

Thou shalt. Lucius ! 

5 



98 VIRGINIA. 



TciL Why that mournful look? 
Why do those eyei so sadly fix on mine, 
And swim in tears | 

T<f. I know not; but my soul 
h sore disquieted \ b ceaseless dread 
( tf ill impending, shadowy-vague, yet vast, 
Weighs down my spirit. Even as I gaze, 
T seems as a mist rose like a veil between us 
And shut thee from my sight, which strives in vain 
To catch thy fading features. Do not leave me ! 
Stay by me, Lucius! [throwing herself on his breast 

and sobbing. 
Icil. Will I not forever? 
My arms encircle thee : what shouldst thou fear? 
This is some sickness that distracts the brain. 
Thou hast look'd pale of late, and thy blue orbs 
Are purpled underneath with heavy, watching. 
AYhy dost thou shake thy head? That untold tale ! 
Thou fiiTst me with disquiet, and my man's-heart, 
Though now thy pillow, trembles with a fear 
Would mate thy own. Alas ! and 't is a moment 
Icilius needs his courage, for Horned sake! 

Tea, This must not be. Cheer up, Virginia, sister! 
Art thou Virginius 1 daughter, and of Rome? 

Y<<. I am Virginius 1 daughter, and a Roman : 
I try, for Lucius' sake, to look less sad ; 
But the weak heari will not beschool'd. Bear with me; 
I shall he better soon. Thou wilt not leave me? 
Not till my hither conn- I 

/'•//. Unhappy chance ! 



ACT I. SC. 2. 99 



I had No matter : 't is the only time 

Icilius has broke faith. I will not leave thee. 

No custom'd cause would move thee thus. The gods 

Perhaps give warning 

Va. Never, to break faith. 
If thou art promis'd elsewhere, go. My love 
Lives in thine honor only : to love less 
Were not to love Icilius. 

Icil. Peerless maid ! 
Thou leading and sustaining, virtue's height 
Is no-way hard to climb. — *But should he leave thee, 
What heart, Virginia, could Icilius have ? 
What power of judgment? Thy distress, his fears, 
Doubt, and conjecture, would pursue him still, 
And Rome's best interests suffer. Let me stay ! 
Va. Before I knew thee, Rome had all my love. 
When, happy in thy suit, my indulgent sire 
Would have me listen it, he bade me note, 
First of thy virtues, love of Rome and freedom. 
For my love's sake were 't well, Icilius, then, 
To wrong that virtue which first won my love? 
Forget my passing weakness. Ere the night, 
Rome's liberty shall be, even for my sake, 
And for thy own, a thousand-fold more dear. 
Icil. Strange riddle ! which I dare not try to read. — 
Thou wilt await my coming back? 

Va. No, no : 
Thy duties might be slighted ; and for me, 
My tarrying long might make me found too slack 
To meet my father. 



100 VIRGINIA, 



/<•/'/. Now, the all-conscious gods, 
Thou dear Virginia, mark thy worth and bless thee!' 
Thou mak'st my passion reason, that before 
Was happy impulse. — On the homeward way, 
Passing the Forum, I shall look to join thee: 
But at thy uncle's, surely. [Exit, 

lea. Why, Virginia ! 
Had the gate elos'd upon Icilius dead, 
Thou could'st not look more blank. 

Va. 'T is all the same. 
There is a weight here [pressing her heart.'] crushes out 

my life ; 
And the gloonrd spirit whispers, as 't were Fate, 
Xo torch Bhall light me — save unto the tomb. 
let. Virginia! Are my brother's words so vain? 
The statutes of the most high gods shall stand, 
Nor hopes nor fears can alter them one jot. 
Va, I know it. I feel it, and I am resign'd. 
Yet, not the less, I shudder. 

lea. And thou dost ! 
This must be sickness. 

V<>. Oh yes, of the heart. 
I would the night were, and my father come! 

Icilia presses^ her soothingly to her bosom, tchcrcon 

Virginia has laid her head ; and, slowly, 

the Scene changes. 



ACT I. SC. 3. 101 



Scene III. 

The Via Sacra — with the Forum, having the Capitoline Hill 
on the left, seen in the distance, — the street winding ob- 
liquely to the right into the Forum. — The houses, on 
either side of the street, are scattered, low of structure, and 
of humble appearance, as in the earlier days of the republic. 

Valerius and Horatius. 

Val. Thou doubt'st then, Marcus, Quinctius will make one? 
Hor. I know not. If thou art Valerius, I 

A true Horatius, Titus has no less 

The blood should love the people. Would he stand 

To Appius now, as opposite as his sire 

Fronted his bloody colleague of that name, 

7 T were much. Not every heat gives fire. Few men 

Burn like Icilius. Quinctius may yield smoke. 
Val. Well! so it sting our enemy's eyes, not ours. 

But see ! Icilius ! with his wonted stride. 

By Hercules ! but that his field 's the Forum, 

Not the trench'd camp, he frowns 8 a second Maroius ! 
Hor. Not of the senate. Coriolanus' hate 

Was not so strong as is Icilius' love, 

To the down-trodden commons. 

Val. It may be 

With like extreme. 

Hor. I think not. Yet if 't were, 

Better, a thousand times, the unsparing hurricane 



102 VIRGINIA, 

( tf popular tumult, than tlio stifling calm 

Of absolute powerl That, its violence spent, 
Mav leave the air of the common weal more pure; 
Bat from the dead stagnation of the other 
What shall purge off its pestilent miasms. 

And make it vital \ 

Yah Why, another hurricane. 
And lo ! the iEolus shall loose the winds. 

Enter Icilius. 

Thy brow is overcast. 

Toil. A passing cloud 
Brought from the sky of home. The public sun 
Shall leave no speck to o'ershadow you or me. 
What of the senate, friends? 

Vol. A blank account, 
Or unity the total. 

Ilor. Scarcely that. 
We have but the half of a man, his soul being parted 
'Twixt would and would not. 

Icil. That is ? 

Val, Titus Quinctius. 
Icil. His Bire was lov'd of the soldiers. 

Hor. But the son 
Will never be lov'd of any — save bis heir. 
He comesl and — How is this? Who is that 
beside him I 
V<iL Anlus Lucretius. 

II, r. [b he mad \ or dares 



ACT I. SC. 3. 103 



The hound betray us, thinking we are so ? 
Icil. Neither, or either. Either is all one. 
We are no dark conspirators, though sworn 
For the public good. What do we, that we do 
In the light of day, as now : else were Icilius 
None of your league. 

Enter 
Titus Quinctius with Atjltjs Lucketius. 

Be welcome, Titus Quinctius. 
Thou knowest why we are met, and com'st resolv'd 
To aid us, head and hand. But this, thy friend, 
Aulus Lucretius ? — — 

Lucr. Is alike resolv'd. 
Icil, I am Icilius, and I hold the people 
The sole legitimate source of sovereign rule, 
For that they are the many, and their thews 
Strain to heave up, to prop and keep sustain'd, 
The edifice whose chambers ye but fill. 
Were Appius not your master as our tyrant, 
My hate to your cruel order were not less, 
And, the decemvirate overthrown, Icilius 
Steps on its carcase, to do battle still 
For freedom and the people's rights. Thou nearest : — 
These are my motives. What are thine ? 

Lucr. I am 
Lucretius, and the common folk of Rome 
I have in hatred less than in disdain. 
But is tli ere eye so blear'd that sees not Appius 



LO I VIRGINIA, 



Striding to sovereign rule aorosa our necks? 

He oring'd to the people, and they set him oVr them. 

IK' trod them down. He cringes now to us. 

And Rome beholds the guardians of her state 

Become mere servitors to the usurping Ten, 
Whose plural tyranny even now is merging 
Into the singular rule of this bold man. 
I love my order, and will let no Tarqnin 
Level its pillars to rear himself a throne. 
These are my motives. 

Icil. And they please me little ; 
As does thy purpled tunic, which they suit. 
But thou dost much ; for thou 'rt a man : thy tongue 
Fears not to utter what thy soul dares think. 
Aulus, there is my hand. 

Hot. And mine. 

VaL And mine. 
Icil. Thou seest, Quinctius : not alone the commons, 
But thine own order smarts beneath the yoke. 
Hast thou not heard of Tarquin, nam'd the Proud ? 
"What did he to the Fathers ? Slept the axes 
Then in the fasces ? Let your house-gods tell. 
AVar, peace, state-treaties, then no more were made 
By council and allowance of the senate: 
The State was Tarqnin. Now, there reign ten Tarquins, 
Girt with their twenty and a hundred axes, 
Which BOOD will pale hut one, and ported bare: 9 
Mee1 emblem of a spirit as haught and bloody 
A- thai hu prototype's, whose chariot-wheels 

-Yd through the bntcher'd trunk of his wife's sire, 



ACT r. sc. 3. 105 



And made the street Accursed to this day ! l ° 
Quinc. Why speak so loud? 

Icil. Because I would be heard. 
"Why ask not too why stand we here i' the street, 
When a house-wall would shield us from the air, 
And treason ? Fear'st thou Appius ? 

Quinc. Xo ; I fear 
The unripeness of this complot. Should the people 

Gather around us 

Icil. They would spare me trouble : 

I go to gather them. Should the tyrants come 

Quinc. Lo, Oppius now ! 

Icil. Well : let him pass. What hinders ? 

Enter Spukius Oppius, 

preceded by his twelve lictors, marching in file, one by one, 

with the fasces shouldered. 
As they pass before the five, going up the street, Quixotics gives 
way, and seems about to go, while Icilius and the rest main- 
tain their ground, Icilius talking as they pass. 

Aulus Lucretius, seest thou these fellows ? 

Xow is it not a shame, that thou and I, 

Valerius and Horatius, and all true men, 

Whose blood boils at such insolent parade, 

Should stand by quiet, when a private man, 

Of no more right than ourselves, dares ape the king 

Even in our faces ? 

Spur. Thou talkest big, Icilius. 
Icil. Not bigger, Oppius, than I feel, or look, 
5* 



108 YIKMNIA. 



Or mean to approve myself id act, some time. 
•. That we Bhall see — some time. Move, lictors, on! 
[Exit, the procession, wp the scene. 
Ilor. Thou has! Bcar'd the heart out, of our Quinctius, 

Lucius. 
c Perhaps not, Marcus: but, I thank Minerva, 
T is not so choleric as to choke my wit. 
][<>r. Thy wit having never life, that were not easy. 
\ And let me ask Icilius, is it wise 
To taunt the enemy ere our battle 's order'd ? 
Icil. Our forces need not, nor would suffer order : 
"T is here the people, and abroad the soldiers. 
We leaders give the signal, and set on, 
And the mass follow as their passions dictate. 
Ours is no plot: was ever such with thousands? 
Nor would such suit me : but the Ten have theirs, 
Secret and sworn. 

Quinc. A plot ? 

Lucr. With what intent ? 
VdL To make their power perpetual, set aside 
The holding of elections, and destroy, 
At least in part, the senate. 

Lucr. Know'st thou this? 
By honor's god ! there 're some that sit i' the House, 
"Will not be tamely butcher'd. Who assist them? 
VdL Bom of the younger nobles, vicious friends, 
Or followers more, of Appius. 

[ Hert Qri\cTit s, looking down the street, steals 
off in the direction of the Forum. 



ACT I. SC. 3. 107 



Hor, Come with us : 
This is no street-talk, and thou shalt hear that 
Will make thee certain, while Icilius goes 
To fire the people. 

Lucr. Where is Quinctius ? 

Vol, Look! 
[pointing down the street, 
Hor, What, Appius coming ! I forgive him then. 
Lucr, Still, thou mayst trust him. 

Hor, True — for passive aid. 

Enter, 

in the same order as Oppius, Appius Claudius, — the 1st Lie- 
tor holding, besides his fasces, a rod to clear the way. 
At a little distance from the decemvir, and aside, Makcus 
Claudius, his client. 

Icilius, as before, Tceeps his place unmoved. 

1st Lict. Way ! way, for the great decemvir ! — Stand aside ! 
[offering to touch Icil, with the rod. 
Lcil. Aside ! thou insolent slave ! Aside ! To whom ? 
Is it to thee, [striding deliberately up to Appius, who, 
in turn, moves a step towards him, 
usurper of a charge 
By law expired? Icilius bows to law, 
Not to law-breakers, and gives place to no man, 
Save whom the sovereign people set above him. 



10S VUUilMA. 

Enter 

t<ro or //.on Citixkns, in their tunics. 11 

Ut OU. Worthy h-ilius! 

%& Git Out upon the tyrant! 
App< Hot-headed fool! Must I bid strip the rods, 
To scourge thee hence ? 
Icil. [rushing on him.] Now, by! 

Valerius, IIoratius, and Lucretius spring between the two, 
and at the same time keep off the lictors. 

Vol. Quirites ! freemen ! ] "§ 

Help your Icilius! ^ 

Hor. Break the fasces ! \ *5 



J 3 



Lucr. Appius, 

Go on your way, or ! 

App. Lictors, do your duty. 

Beat back the rabble. Seize, bind, the 

Marc. CI. Noble patron ! 
This word, [ichispers a moment. 

App. O brave ! — Forbear we once. Peace, all. 
Icilius, I shall take a fitter time 
To punish thy presumption : the tribunal 
Waits now my sitting. Aulus, as for thee, 
Thou knowest me now thy foe. 

Lucr. And such, defy thee. 
App. Move on! [to the lictors.] I yield --to triumph. 

[giving may to Icil. and smiling on Mm as he 
passes, — Icil. standing still. 

Exit) thi procession^ up tlte scene. 



ACT I. SC. 3. 109 



Maecus, loitering behind, stops in the background at a signal 

from Livia, who, in the disguise of Scene II, enters as 

Icilius turns to the Citizens. Livia goes up 

to Maectts, and they whisper. 

Icil. Citizens, 
Put on your mantles, gather your friends, the friends 
Of law and liberty. On to the Forum. There 
Wait me, but peaceful. 

2d Oit. Peaceful ! No ; but quiet. 

[Exeunt Citiz. 
Icil. [to Valer., etc. 

Brave friends ! true senators ! [Sees Livia walking off 
with Marcus, and looking back at Icil. significantly, 
as they confer in whispers.] Ah ! — What means 
that ? 
Val. The cloud again, Icilius ? 

Icil. Ay, I fear 
Its shadow this time threatens rain. Dost know 
That woman ? 

Val. No ; but he that whispers her 
Is Appius 1 filthy pander. We may guess. 
Icil. [to himself] No — no — no — no. O let me not 

think that ! 
Val. [softly.] Let us away. 

Hor. [same.] 'T is strange ! What can it 
mean? 



110 \ lKi.l.MA. 



•. [$anu .] b he bo often I 

]W. Never so before. 
Be met us sadly. But the gloom was brief. 
to himself.] Eorrid suggestion ! 

Lucr. T is not fit we stay. 
[Exeunt^ quietly \ the three senators. 
L'tL Was tins thy dark foreboding, poor Virginia? — 
But the dread arrow shall have other mark! 
Help, ye avenging Furies ! [moving rapidly up the 
scene.'] — I am mad. [coming oack 
slowly. 
On mere suspicion ! — Appius would not dare, 
So plac'd, so hated. : daring, what bis means? 
No, no ! 1 t is but a fancy, — yet a fancy 
So horrid-torturing, my tough heart cracks, 
And my brain seems unsettled. — My Virginia ! 

The drop falls. 



ACT II. SO. 1. I'll 

Act the Second 

Scene I. The Forum. 

In front, at the upper part of the scene, the tribunal, icith the 
curule chair. On the right [left of spectators], a row of 
seven shops under a portico, and, beticeen the shops and the 
tribunal, the statue of Venus Cloacina. 0, — On the left, 
Citizens move about, or converse in groups. — Lictors 
ranged on either side of the tribunal. 

Appius and Makcus. 

App. Two days, sayst thou? It most not, shall not be* 
Even if I touch his life ! But that were rash. 
Marcus, thy plan. Give 't instant execution. 
Is the hag ready ? 

Marc. Always. And the time 
Seems opportune. Her sire at the camp, Virginia 
Dwells with her uncle, and her way now home 
Crosses the Forum. But she may not come. 
App. Why dost thou dash my hopes % 

Marc. Because, dread patron, 
Livia's detection must alarm the maid, 
May keep her hous^. 

App. Besiege the door. 

Marc. A violence 
So hold might startle even thy subject Borne. 
This would I say : in case the girl come not, 



11*2 VIRGINIA. 



Virginias must be Bt&y'd, to give us time. 

App* Or if ahe come. Well thought! Till I have tam'd 
Thifl bird to her porch, and taught her know my call. • 
Thy tahkts — quick 1 ami style. [Marcus takes them 
from the lap of his mantle, and Appius 
writes rapidly one or tico lines. 
Sec that my messenger, 
My speediest, carries this in all haste to Algidum. 
Thou 'It see to whom. And bid him shun Yirginius. 

Marc. Were 't not best, first transcribe it on a leaf? 

App, No, waste no time. Thou think'st they be alarm'd. 
They might then get before us. Haste thou back. 
Revenge has given new edge to my desire. 

# [Exit Marcus. 

But what will come of it ? Have I thought that well ? 
To achieve this loathing maid, what do I hazard? 
The crown I 'd clutch, whose visionary round 
Burns on my temples nightly. What if more ? 
The father's virtues, and the popular name 
Of the affiane'd lover, may rouse this Eome 

Which I have drugg'd to so deep slumber ; and then ! 

I see — horror ! 't is the new Lucretia, 
Dead in her father's arms ! the bloody knife, 
Smoking and dripping, lifted ! Brutus calls, 
With arms spread out, upon the gods of Hell ! 
Was that crash thunder? 'T is the o'erthrown tri- 
bunal — 
Lictors and fasoefl trampled down together! 
The rabble like a pack of wolves rush on me! 
How their throats yell ! I hear their panting] nearer — 



ACT II. SC. 1. 113 



Nearer ! Their hot breath scorches ! Help ! oh, help ! 

[aloud, and running. 
'T is nothing, men : I did but clear my throat. 

[The lictors, who had advanced to him at 

his cry, resume their station. 

A horrid dream ! But this, the Forum [looking around 

him with a shudder.] — sunlight : 
I am awake, and still decemvir, still 
Decemvir paramount ! — and will be — more. 
Yet, oh! — Virginia! [w ith a degree of softness. 

Oppius spoke too true : 

Marcius' soft spot spreads over all my heart. 

Why did I make, that law ? what is plebeian, 

That flesh patrician may not mate with it ? 12 

Sprung from Lavinia's self, in line direct, 

This maid were not more precious. — I will do it ! 

Will break the law ! will wed her! But — will she? 



Icilius Death and Hell! Off, lying visions! 

Though Heaven should rain down blood, I will not yield ! 

[Turns up the Scene, 
which shifts to Scene 2. 



114 VIRGINIA. 



Scene II. 

Another pa/rt of (he Forum. 

Iciurs and Xr.MiToiaus meeting* 

Icil. Fublius Numitorius! — Thou art well met! 
What brings thee to the Forum? 

Num. Natural care. 
I seek my sisters child. — But thou look'st ruffled ! 
IeiL And thou o'er-sad. 'T is like we have one cause. 
For I too seek Virginia. Why shouldst thou, 
With so unusual care, her nurse. being with her, 
Forsake thy house — Virginius too expected? 
Sum. Thou know'st that then ! Canst thou say why 

expected ? 
Icil. Would that I could ! And yet the bare conjecture 
Makes my blood curdle. Why are Rome's free streets 
Xo longer safe for virgins? Asking that, 
Do I show why Virginius might be look'd for? 
Why I am ruffled, and thou over-sad ? 
• Docs thy heart, Fublius, freeze and boil at once, 
As mine does, at the sound of one man's name 
Coupled with pure Virginia's ? 

Num. And that name ? 

'T is I 

Teil. Appius. Speak! 

Num. It does. What dost thou know ? 
Icil. ffothing. Thou? what dost thou? Protecting gods! 
Who from your favor'd Capitol look down 



ACT II. SC. 2. 115 



On prostrate Rome, Pena'tes of her state ! 
Jove the all-great, all-good! thou sovereign Juno! 
Armipotent Minerva ! if once more 
Your shrines shall beam on freemen new-create, 
Exact not like atonement ! Let not blood 
Bedrop this time the white fleece of the lamb! 
Num. Thou mak'st me shudder. 

Ml. 'T is my own heart's echo. 

Seest not I shiver? 

Num. Yet thou knowest nought : 

Nor I. Be calmer. 

Ml. Thou didst ask the name. 
Said I not - Appius ? Wherefore art thou, here ? 
Why should we both fear outrage for Virginia? 
Num. Yet neither may have ground. What thou hast heard, 
What seen, I know not. When thy brother, Qmntus, 
Came for my son to journey to the camp 
Ml They told me not of that! Say on! Say on! 
Num. The boy could nothing tell. But from his haste, - 
The sudden need, -from strange, mysterious looks 

And hints of the nurse, - from What is that? 

Nurse, [within, from the side.] Help! Romans! 

T is Virginius' daughter ! 

Num. [hurrying after Mlius, who, 
at the first sound, has sprung forward in the di- 
rection of it.] Gods ! we are too late. 1 3 

[Scene shifts suddenly to 
Scene 3. 



11(3 vik<;inia. 



Scene III. 



Same cm Skene J. of the Art. — Appius is seated on the tribu- 
)t<'L girt by his lirtors. Near the shops, Virginia and her 
Nuese, struggling with Maecus Claudius. The People, 
who are now mixed with one or two Women, making 

towards them. 

Nune* Romans, 't is false ! She is the promis'd spouse 
Of your Icilius. 

1st Cit. Cneius, hear'st thou that ? [to 2d Oit. 
Unhand the girl, [to Marcus.] Thou art known. 

2d Cit. For Appius' pimp. 
Tread down the dog ! 

Marc. She is my slave — Come on — 
[dragging Virginia. 
Born of my slave. 

Enter Icilius and Numitoeius. 

A shout from the crowd. Icilius! 

2d Cit. [as Icilius, still without 
speaking, hurls Marcus across the scene. 

That is it ! 
Brave Roman ! 

Va. Lucius, must it all come true ? 
Jril. Think better of the gods, Virginia. Cheer thee. 
None can molest thee, now. Come home. Behold! 
Here Lb thine uncle, and thy husband's arm 



ACT II. SC. 3. 11? 



Is folded round thee. 

A Matron. Husband ! Hear, Drusilla ! 
Shame on the coward ! 

Icil. [moving with Va. through the 
throng.} Thanks, kind friends. 

Marc. Icilius, 
What means this violence ? Open, if thou wilt, 
Thine eyes still wider, and bite through thy lips ; 
Thou canst not stare me from my rights, nor frighten. 
Num. Thy rights ? 

Icil. Let him speak on. 

Marc. My rights : the right 
Of every Eoman citizen to his own goods. 
The girl 's my house-ware, [extending his arm to tale Va. 
Icil. Liar and slave ! [striking him 
— his left arm still around Virginia. 
Take that ! 
Tool of a tyrant's lust ! stretch thou one finger 
To touch this virgin, I tread thee into clay, 
And hurl the carrion on thy master's throne 
To make his footstool ! — Come, Virginia, come. 
Marc. Not yet. Nor words, nor blows, make null my rights. 

[making a sign to Appius, who 
sends forward two lictors. 

I appeal to the tribunal. Come. 

Icil. Go then, 
Virginia, with thy uncle. I must stay, 
And front the tyrant. 

Marc. No ! the girl goes not. 
Lictors ! 



1 18 VIRGINIA, 



[$t Lie. Back, citizens I — What means this clamor? 
Who breaks the public peace! 

Marc. I claim my slave. 

Jell. Thou foul-mouth'd villain! — Eainans! freemen 1 
brothers | 
Ye know me ; I have never spoken false. 
This is Virginias 1 daughter; on her finger 
This ring I gave her speaks Icilius' spouse. 
She has no mother, now ; for you, her sire 
Offers his bosom to your enemies' knives. 
Ye will not Buffer that a maid so.lone, 
So unprotected, one whose" boast it is 

She is made of clay like yours, plebeian mould 14 

[ TJie people murmur. 
Mare. Lictors, your office ! Let him not speak treason. 
2d ('it. Treason, to be of the people! Hear him out. 
Finish, Icilius. 

Icil. You are not so abject, 
As let this maid, whose cradle was as yours, 
Your daughter, and your sister, orphan'd too, 
Because \\w sire defends your household-gods 
And her poor mother wanders with the bless'd, 
Happy to know not this! you will not suffer 
Icilius' promised spouse, Virginius' child, 
Blood of your blood, and freehorn as are you, 
You will not suffer her to be torn from 'midst you, 
To serv • the lust of a patrician! 

2'/ Git. No! 
J)owii with the lictors I 

Marc. Citizens, are you mad? 



ACT II. SC. 3. 



119 



I ask but for a hearing. If my claim 
Be baseless, let him take the girl. 

1st Cit 'T is just. 
Let him have hearing. 

Icil. Just ! fickle hearts ! 
Is 't just the c'aimant should himself be judge? 

Know ye not 

Num. Lucius, thou wilt ruin all. 
Hope in Yirginius' coming, hope not now. 
See [glancing round on the people.], and believe 
resistance is in vain. 
Ml Lead on. And yet — I did put trust in yon. * 

[addressing the throng. 
I thought No matter. [They move up to the tri- 
bunal followed oij the crowd. 
1st Oit. What could he expect ? 
The Matron. Were I a man, thou shouldst not want reply. 

Marc. Mighty decemvir ! this young 

Icil. Have a care ! 
If thou dare touch her, though it be the form, 1 5 
Even in thy master's face I keep my word. 

App. Now by the manes l G of my sires, thou vile ! 

[springing up in his seat. 
Marc. Hear, gracious ruler I let me wave the form. 
I would not have the whiteness of my claim 
Spotted by violence. — 

App. Then for thy sake, be't, 

Not his. 

Icil. For thine own sake, thou ! 

Va. Lucius! pity! 



120 VIRGINIA. 



V^v me I tor me ! Wonldst thou destroy mo? 

Num. Appius, 
I am the uncle of this maid: 't is mine 
To fuiswer. Let the Assertor now proceed. 

Marc. This maiden, as the Roman law prescribes, 
I say is mine, and the possession in her 
Demand to be assign'd to me. 

Num. And I, 
By the same law assert her to be free, 
And as her guardian, in the father's room, 
Demand the right to lead her where I will. 17 
App. Let the assertor unto servitude 
Make out his claim. 

Marc. Yirginius Lucius, sire 
Suppos'd of this young maid, being in the wars, 
A child was born to him in Rome, which died 
Soon as it snufFd. the air. The selfsame day, 
A Yolscian girl, my household- slave, gave birth 
To a female child, which promised well. Her sister, 
Midwife to both the women, mov'd to see 
The mother weep her young thus born to chains, 
Herself too sorrowing, plac'd the living babe 
On the free pillow, and took away the dead. 
Behold the false Virginia ! for the true 
Is dust. 

Icil. Is there a Heaven above us ? 

Num. Lucius ! 

Leave me to answer. — See! Virginia faints! 

App. The caati is plain. What hast thou to reply? 

Num. DM tin- false mother come, in after time, 



ACT II. SC. 3. 121 



To know of this strange fraud? 

Marc. Not till the child, 
Grown up in worth and beauty, had won her heart. 
Num. Nor told Yirginius? 

Marc. Why disturb his peace ? 
He had come to love the darling as his own. 
'T is thought, however, in her dying hour 
The truth came out. This we shall ascertain. 
Num. And by the midwife and the mother-slave 
Thou hop'st to prove this ? 

Marc. And Yirginius' self. 
Num. O monstrous fraud ! effrontery unmatch'd ! 
Hear, Appius ; hear, ye citizens ! I am 
Twin-brother of Yirginius' wife, had ever 
Her most full confidence ; yet see ! her heart 
Kept this huge fact from me ! 

App. And is that all ? 
Num. Much to make wise men doubt. Hear, Romans, hear ! 
This man would cite the midwife, therefore living, 
A Yolscian, and the sister of a slave. 
Known is it to me, to many — and there stands 
Yirginia's nurse who knows — the midwife was 
A Roman, and is dead ! 

App. And is that all ? 
Icil. What wouldst thou more ? {resigning Va. to Numit. 
App. No evidence of thine. — 
Let the pretended sire appear. 

Marc. Till then 
Possession in the girl remains with me. 



6 



122 vik(;i\ia. 



App. Thai ifl bul just. Assertor, take thy slave. 

[General murmur of in ill <j nation. 
Teik Thou dar'st not ! bj thine ownlaw, dar'stnot, tyrant, 
I K rive this wrong ! Decision must be made, 
In such a suit, on the side of freedom. 

1st Cit. Right! 
It is the law. 

2(Z CSfc He made it: let him keep it! 
App, What know ye of the law, ye clamorous curs? 
That Appius made it, proves that Appius leans 
To liberty and mercy. But this case 
Was not provided for. The general act 
Supposes equal litigants. Where such, 
Who stands for actual owner matters little ; 
But here it being the father of the girl, 
So caird, the Assertor yields to only him. 
Pledg'd to produce her when he shall appear, 
'T is fit he keep her now. — It is decreed. 
Lictor, disperse the assembly. 

Va. [running to IciL] Save me ! save ! 
Or kill me, Lucius ! 

Matron. Cowards! do you hear her ? 
Num. [thrusting bach Marcus, while Icilius, clasping Yir- 
ginia with his left arm, covered with his mantle 
(toga), confronts A'ppius, and leaves lack with his 
right the lictor s. 
Virginias 1 daughter! who is now abroad, 
Fighting your battles! [to the 2>cople. 

lit ( 'it. The decemvir knows it. 



ACT II. SC. 3. 123 



Lictors. [opposing their fasces. 
Decreed ! 

Matron. Where are your daughters? [again to 
the people.] 2d Cit. Are we slaves ? 
Down with the lictors ! 

Lict. Back! 

Matron. shame ! 

Lict. Bear back ! 
"It is decreed!" [The people yield, though sullenly, 
leaving Icilius, etc., exposed. 
Icil. I knew it. When the judge 
And. claimant are one, what else ? Do ye see that wretch ? 
'T is Marcus, Appius' client ; what besides, 
I shame, before this innocent maid, to speak. 
Ye murmur. Well ye may, knowing what I mean. 
Is 't fit she should be trusted to such hands, 
Were Appius even guiltless? I had thought 
That honor was more dear to Eoman women 

Than life 

Matron. It is ! but Roman men are cowards. 
Icil. — That reverence for Lucretia could not die. 

[Movement in the crowd. 

Lucretia ! 'T is a name 

Matron. Blush, Romans ! 
[Movement becomes more tumultuous. 

App. Lictors ! 

2d Cit. No ! he shall finish ; we will hear him out. 

[The crowd press on the lictors and force them 'bach. 
Icil. [turning to the tribunal.'] Lucretia! At that name, 
thou vile decemvir, 



12 I YIK<;i.\TA. 



Dost thou not tremble I Usurper like to Tarquin, 
Recall his Fate! Bu1 Collatings paid 
A price I will not; nor shall Rome's proud annals 
Tell of a second sorrow like to his, 
Though they record like vengeance. Speak, Lucilla! 

[to the nurse. 
This is no time for secrets. What thou knowest, 
Give 't to the people. 

Matron. Speak ! 

2d Cit. We will protect thee. 
App. [thundering to the Victors.'] Ye dogs! what are ye 
kept for ! Strip the fasces ! 
Scourge hack the rahhle ! 

2d Git. Death to the lictors! death! 

The croicd struggle for the possession of the fasces. 

Xr.MiTonius, threatening M. Claudius, stands "before "Virginia, 

while the Nurse supports her behind — Icilius still 

sustaining her. 

i [pp. Arrest the rebel ! Seize, bind, slay Icilius ! 1 8 
Marcus, secure the s'ave ! 

Tcil. On, Romans, on ! 
lie dashes bach Maro. Claudius violently, consigns 
Virginia to Numitor., and, putting aside the 
lictors, makes directly for the tribunal. 
Strike for your freedom ! Twelve, against you all ? 
Trample them under you ! Leave to me the tyrant. 
App. To the tribunal, lictors 1 guard the office. [The lictors 
/•, treat and form between the tribunal and Icilius. 



ACT II. SC. 3. 125 



Citizens ! Appius wars not upon you ! [The citizens re- 
main motionless, and Icil. stands once more exposed. 

Why, so ! 
Have ye forgot your reason ? Know ye not 
The ambition of Icilius ? Not for her. 
Ill-fated girl! this- tumult. 'T is sedition, 
Veil'd with the pretext of Virginius' cause. 
He would be tribune, and to found his power 
Make odious the decemvirate. But the people 
Shall judge between us. To Virginius absent, 
To liberty, to the paternal name, 
Yields Appius wbat your violence nor his 
Should wrest, entreats the Assertor wave his right, 
And, the decree revoked, prorogues the trial. 

[Murmur of applause. 
Silence ! Icilius needs your tongues, not I. — 
Once more to-day will Appius sit injustice, 
But, the sun down, Virginius not appearing, 
He gives the law its course, nor will he need 
To enforce it more than these, [pointing to the lictors. 

1st Cit. So soon ; 
Virginius cannot come ! 

2d Cit. He knows that well. 
Icil. He thinks it, friends ; but let the tyrant learn, 
To his confusion, Virginius even now 
Is on his way. [A movement of great joy. 

Hum. My son, that was not wise. 
See where the pander and his lord change looks ! 
Marc. Be 't, great decemvir ; Claudius asks but justice. 
But who are surety that the girl appear ? 1 ° 



126 Y11UJINIA. 



Enter 
Valebtos and Eoratitjs. 

Pol Lucius Valerius. t from behind the people, who 

} make way for them, with 
Hbr. And Horatius, I ! ( demonstrations of joy. 

People. Audi! 

[holding up their And I! 

right hands simultaneously] And all of us! 

Valerius and Horatius, going up the scene, confront 

the decemvir a moment, then turn to 

Icilius, and his parti/. 

Vol. [to Icil.] We have heard 
Thy sad misfortune. But [in undertone and signifi- 
cantly'] we eame too late. 
Ilor. [like manner.'] Hope. 

Icil. [to the people.] Thanks ! but now, we shall not 
need you, friends. 
Impute to nothing mean these passionate tears : 
'T is your love moves me — mingled with despair — 
Despair for liberty, when one man's power 
Can make a thousand offer rac but love. 
Go to your homes. Wo, wo, for fetter'd Rome ! 
For Brntus'fl Ronie! wo! wo! [Exit {muffling his 
head) with Virginia, Numit. and Nurse — 
the Matrons following them. 
The remaining Citizens move forward, and form a close group, 
which Valeb. and Eorat., after seeing Icilius'' party off 
the Scene, join — while Marc. Claud., ascending 
behind the tribunal, is seen receiving in hi* 
some secret instructions from Appius. 



ACT II. SC. 3. 127 



2d Cit. It is a shame ! 
We are bound to assist him. 

1st Git. But what can we do? 
Val. [in a low, impressive tone.] Meet here again as many 
as you can, 
Before the trial. Icilius will harangue you. 
Then shall you learn what for yourselves to do, 
As well as him. Nor shall you want, to back you, 
Friends such as we. 

Hor. [same manner.] And should you chance to bring 
Arms hid about you, 't will not be amiss. 
Hush ! not a word ! Away, at once ! 

Val. Eemember! 
'T is the last chance for liberty and Eome. 

[Exeunt the people. 
Val. and Hoeat., looking at the decemvir and Maectjs a 
moment, pass slowly up the scene, and Exeunt. — 
Maectjs descends, and comes forward. 
Marc, [in low tone.] Murder already ! Yet the knife may 
glance, 
And hit its owner. Wo then unto me ! 
Who dare not flinch, yet tremble to obey. [Exit. 
App. Waits no one more for justice ? Lictors, move. 

[Rises, and, as he turns to descend, the 

Drop falls. 20 



128 VIRGINIA, 



A 1 i 1 1 i : Third 

Set ni I. A mean apartment in the house of Lima. 

Makous Claudius. Livia. 
[Marcus just entering.'] 

Lie What lias detained thee ? 

Marc. Has revenge grown cool ? 
Liv. Cool! If the darnn'd feel half the pangs, that here, 

[pressing her heart. 
And here [her head.], consume me, since the sun arose 
To light my day of vengeance, then the gods 
Indeed are cruel. Think'st thou there be Furies? 
Mare. 'T were best not ask me. 21 [carelessly. 

Liv. Oh ! there must be such ! 
There must ! I feel it. My temples are on lire, 
Sear'd with their torches, and around my heart 
Their cold snakes coiling sting me to the core. 
'T was my long agony ask'd, What detain'd thee. 
Marc. As thy pains balance, head for heart, thou need'st 
No comfort. What I have to tell, may cool 
Perhaps thy head, or salve thy heart, or be, 
For audit 1 know, the scourge, that was forgotten 
In thy sweet list of ccstacies. My Livia, 
Thoti 'it wry canning; but the virgin dup'd thee, 
With her two days. Ber sire is coming now. 



ACT. III. SC. 1. 129 



Liv. Thou dost not think it ! thou sayst it but to plague 
me! 
Coming ! Then fall the sure threads of my warp ! 
Marc. Of Appins', say ; for he alone is weaver. 

Thine ! thou dost little more than hand the wool. 
But hast thou lost thy question, What detaiu'd me ? 
Liv. I care not now. What 's thy delay to me ? 
Marc. Much, if 't was made to gather up those threads 
That now were dropp'd. 

Liv. By what means ? 
Marc, [in her ear, but loudly.] Murder. 

Liv. Murder! 
Oh, no ! — [Recovering ; and eagerly. 
But of Icilius ? 

Marc. Would it were ! 
My qualms were few then ; for my hones are sore. 
Liv. Not — not Virginias ? Do not nod ! speak ! speak ! 
Marc. Whom else? Why, how thou look'st ! Virginitis 
spurn'd thee, 
As if thou wert a toad. 

Liv. He did ! he did ! 
May his heart rot for it, inch by inch ! But — but — 

I would not have him dead No, no ! no murder ! 

Not that I love him But he shall not die ! 

I am not yet so bad No, no ! no murder ! 

Oh! no, no, Marcus! no! 

Marc. Thou art very strange ! 
Thou 'dst have his heart rot, yet he shall not die! 
He must have wondrous insides. 

Liv. Do not mock me! 



L30 VIRGINIA. 



fa 11 no! I that ; ; 1 1 1 the cause of all ? 

I made thee aote the daughter's beauty; -- coming 

6 girl was from her school ; ami at my hint 
Thou spak'st to Appius, set his blood on fire, 

And now Virginius shall not die ! His life : 

Or the plot withers : — Til reveal it all ! 

Mare, And have thy carcase Hung from the Tarpcian. 
Thou foolish woman ! hear. By Appius' order, 
I have hired three villains to assault this man, 
On his way home. 'T is hut a chance they meet him, 

A chance that they prevail 

Liv. But if they do, 
1 will denounce thy patron to the people. 
By all the gods in Heaven and Hell, I'll do it! 

Mare. Wilt thou ! I will not die alone. The people, 

Taught what thou art, shall tear thee limb from limb. — 
What demon loos'd my tongue ? and to a woman ! 

But who had dream'd, that love ? 

Liv. Love ! canst thou mean 
Love for Virginius? Love? More deadly hate 
Never felt woman. I would kill his pride, 
Torture him piecemeal where he tortur'd me, 
But not kill him. Canst thou not see a difference} 

Mare. A vast one. Thou wouldst murder inch by inch, 
A little ^vevy day ; with one blow, Appius 

Takes all of his enjoyment all at once. 

Will thou appear when call'd, and do thy part? 
Liv. I will appear when call'd, and do my part — 

Virginius. Thou shalt see. [Going. 

Ma\ . Is, that carve the master's pleasure, 



ACT III. SC. 2. 131 



Shall break our edges, and be thrown away. — 

[Exit Lima. 
Torture his pride ! and piecemeal ! This is conscience ! 
Make him supremely wretched — but no blood ! 
Furies ? There may be, or may not ; but this 
Is sure; who made them female, knew what hands 
Might be entrusted with the whips of Hell. 23 

[Exit — hut at opposite side. 



Scene II. 

Boom in the house of Numitorius. 

Icilius and Virginia. 

Virginia is seen leaning on Icilius' shoulder, her face hidden, 
in an attitude of distress. 

Icil. Gods, is this equity ? Must your thunder singe 
Alike the delicate shrub and branching tree ? 
I may not, and I have no thought nor will 
To impeach your justice; in this mortal heart, 
Frail and infirm of purpose, if ye have planted 



132 VIRGINIA. 



Immutable love of truth, your deathless essence, 
remptation-proof and anassail'd by fear, 

Cannot see righl and wrong with equal eyo : 

Y. i spare this innocent ohildl she is too young 
To bide those trials, which o'er maturer hearts, 
Grown callous with the storms of many years, 
Sweep without ruin, and but make them strong. 
O, it is hard ! 
Vtt. [looking up iclth surprise.'] Dear Lucius! Do not 

weep ! 
Icil. Twice in one day these eyes ! — I thought them stone 
To any private grief: but now their dew 
Drips over, spite of manhood. 

Va. Is there, then, 
ISTo hope ? none? 

Icil. Hope? It was Iloratius' word. 
Oh ! that there were ten men in all the people 
Like him and like Valerius, worthy both 
Of their immortal names! Kome yet might breathe 
And shake this nightmare from her. Death! to think 
Men should have heads and hands, yet fear to use them ! 
Be born erect, yet crouch like cattle ! Are there 
No Romans left \ 

Yii. Yirginius is, my father. 
Icil. Yes, yes, they are all at camp. The air 
Of Kome is pestilence to Roman virtue. 
But we will not despair; no, my Virginia! 
T were no to doubt high Heaven. 

Va. Yet — if my heart — 



ACT III. SC. 2. 133 



Have boded true — and no help is in man — 

Lucius — wilt — wilt thou Promise me — O 

swear it ! 
Thou wilt not let Virginia fall alive 
Into those wicked hands ! swear it, Lucius ! 
Swear that thy own dear hand shall send me pure 
Unto my mother ! Why art thou so still ? 
Thou dost not doubt my firmness ? 

Ml Doubt it? No! 
No ; I was mute with adoration ; faltering, 

Because — because How can I else but falter ? 

I cannot think — 't would drive me to despair ! 
Thy bodements true. We have done nothing, thou 
In thy most innocent heart couldst not conceive 
The thought of any thing, should bring down on us, 
On thee this horrible fate. 

Va. Thou mu>t not murmur. 
To the high gods man's individual wo 
Counts nothing, weigh'd with the common good of all. 
When we were children, thou knowest, the parent's 

rule 
Seem'd often tyranny, and our transient pains 
Cruel, because we saw not, and seeing could not 
Eightly discern, the aim of their infliction. 
Are we not, Lucius, to the omniscient gods 
As little children, and our moans and murmuring 
Proofs that we are well car'd for? Thou wast born 
Not of the kind to whom life brings but pleasure, 
And thy great soul, thus crucified to joy, 



134 VIRGINIA. 



May from its agony gain gigantic strength 
For Rome's deliverance. 

Icil. Speak on ! speak ever ! 
Not for my gloiy, but for thine: speak on! 
Va. N;:y, I am feeble, Lucius, and unapt; 

But J am Roman; and in my woman's-b feast 

A voiee from Heaven cries, Murmur not, — thy blood 

Shall fertilize the soil of Roman freedom, 

And seed there sown shall yield perennial fruit, 

Justice and wisdom, honor, single truth, 

Temperance and valor, and other goodly growth 

Of the tree whose smallest leaves send up to Heaven 

Ambrosial odors. 

Icil. And couldst thou, Virginia, 
Offer thy life new-garlanded with love, 
And wreath'd with fillets of all human joys 
That wait on innocent youth, thou good, thou fair, 
Dear to thy widow'd father, and — for me — 
how to speak thee ! Couldst thou — die, Virginia, 
Slaughterd to free a most unthankful people, 
Whose hearts, ere yet the sacrificial fire 

Has dried thy Speak! for I can not. 

Va. Whose hearts 
Will lose all trace of me? — Is duty measur'd 
By what it earns of gratitude? Believe me, 
Dear as my life is, dearer now than ever 
For thy dear Bake, I will not struggle once, 

If Koine demand the victim, and thy hand 

Swear thou will do it, Lucius] 

Icil. I do swear. 



ACT III. SC. 2. 135 



As I would shed my own, iny mother's blood, 

So she were living, and the good of Borne 

Call'd for the sacrifice. Icilius' word 

Should need no oath ; yet thou, beloved, I see it, 

Mistrusts him for his love's sake. Yet to him 

What wouldst thou be, wert thou no more Virginia ? 

No ! thou true daughter of the olden Borne, 

Not of the Borne of now ! if thou must die, 

Thus, in the yet shut flower of thy youth, 

I (I have less strength than thou !) — if thou 

must die, 
For Borne, thy mother, thou shait die, I swear it, 
Worthy of her ! 

Va. 'T is to die thy spouse, 
To die unstain'd, and fearless — and die happy, 
So my last breath be gathered by thy lips. 
Icil. Thou shalt not die ! Borne is not grown so heartless ! 
Eathers and husbands are not so insensate ! 
Their arms must strike for me and for Virginius ! 
Our cause is one. Then, have we not our friends, 
Valerius and Horatius, and their friends 
Who are foes to Appius? Is the tyrant proof 
To what kills other men ? Oh ! we are mad ! 
We libel our fellows and asperse the gods, 
Desponding thus. Thou shalt not die, Virginia! 
Blood shall be shed, and for the good of Borne, 
But on the altars of the god of Hell, 
And the black gore drip downwards ! Come, Virginia, 
Seek we the hall. There by thy uncle's hearth, 
Whose tutelar-gods thy mother's childhood knew, 24 



136 VI KM MA. 



Await with him thy sire, while, new in hope, 
I Bpeed to rouse the ashes of dead Rome. 
Let the black shadow from my heart now passing 
Be better augury, and thy own grim omens 
Vanish like dreams. 

Va, Dreams ! But thy vow remember. 

{Exeunt. 



Scene III. 

A room in a diversorium, or road-side inn, near Rome. 

Vinoixirs. Quixirs Ioilius, Oaius Numitorius. 

Virg. Enongh of rest. Let us make onward, boys. 

[draws his hood 25 over his head, 
Yet my heart trembles, as I near the town. 
My daughter! my Virginia! — Who is that! 
,m. Uncle, a slave of Appius the decemvir's, 
Hisi er. How hot the fellow looks! 

7. TciL gome pressing mal 

Virg, With some wicked view. 



ACT III. SC. 3. 137 



0. Num. He sees and shuns us. 

Virg. T is a wonder, that. 
His master's slave should not have modest scruples. 
Call him in, Cains. 

0. Num. Tabellarius ! friend ! 



Filter Messenger. 

Mess. Save you, my masters. 

Virg. Com'st thou from the town ? 
Mess. In all haste from the great decemvir. I seek 

The camp at Algidum — scarce pause to breathe. 
Virg. The camp! What is there toward? Not peace, 

I trust. 
Mess. I know not. I 've no verbal charge but these : 
To see myself the general, Marcus Sergius, 
And shun there one Yirginius, a centurion. 

ViPwGixius draws the hood closer over his face. Quintus 

and Caius exchange loolcs and turn hastily to 

Virgin. — which the slave ooserves. 

You know Yirginius, then ? [to the youths. 

Virg. They do. But I 
Know him far better. 
Mess, [uneasily and moving to go.] A friend, perhaps? 

Virg. Why, scarce. 
From my birth up, he whom thou call'st Yirginius 
Has been my fatalest enemy. Good friend, 



138 V1KGINIA. 



^\- arc just from ramp: wouldst thou declare thy 

message 
T would please ns greatly — this for thy refreshment — 

[handing him money. 
And none can teach thee how to shun Virginias, 
So well as I. 

Men. Did I but know thee, master 

Yet 'Tis but this, [showing the tablets. 

Virg. On tablets ! O rare haste ! 
Now would I give the world to know thy news. 
Trust me, my friend. Thy master, were he here, 
Would own the Fates themselves had sent these letters 
Into my bands. Come, let me see them. Boys, 

[giving 0. aivl Q. money. 
Take this good man within, and let the victualer 
Give of his best. 

Mess. Thou art so generous, master 

[suffering Virg. to take the tablets. 

And yet No, no. 

C. Num. Come ; thou hast little time. 
Mess. And that is true. 

Virg. Why, man, thou need'st not fear. 
Would I dare trifle with thy great decemvir ? 
Is he not Appius? Go. [Exeunt the youths and Mess. 
My fears compel me. 

[opening the tablets. 
Beading.] "Appius Claudius to his colleague, Marcus 

; us. Health.— Keep, any way, at camp 
Lucios Virginias, till the third day after 



ACT III. SC. 3. 139 



The messenger's return*" O too just fears ! 
My child ! niy child ! — But 't is no time to grieve. 
[Takes from its case Ms style, and milling over, 
with the broad end, the wax of the tablets 
in two places, writes over the 
places with the point. 
Now it reads better : Keep the messenger ; 
And the ''return" goes with Virginias 1 name. 
The third day after that, is long enough ! 2 6 

Re-enter hastily 
The Messexgee, followed by Caius and Quixtus. 

Mess. Give it me back ; I cannot eat for fear. 
Why — how ! Thou hast chang'd the writing ! 

Virg. Slave ! dost dare ? 
Mess. Pardou me. — Oh ! this place has been rubb'd over ! — 
Nor look the words the same ! 

Virg. How shouldst thou know ? 
'T is as it should be. I disturb'd the wax, 
And then re-wrote it. There is not one word 
But what stood there at first. Knows Koine not 

Appius ? 
Is my life nothing ? Go. Thou losest time. 

[Exit Messenger. 
And we too, sons ; our steeds are not the wind. 
My daughter ! 

C. Num. What has chane'd? Thou art so pale! 
Virg. I'll tell thee on our way. — Rome ! Rome ! — 



140 VIRGINIA, 



My child! — Accursed tyrant ! Itoys, 

Ye have heard Virginias lie like any slave. 
( '. Nvm, Lie, ancle i 

I"//y. Yes: what is it to deceive! 

The words are nothing; 't is the intent alone 
Makes them or true or false. That beaten slave 
Had been but politic; but I, a freeman, 
A Roman, and a soldier, cannot use 
Ulysses' craft without both sin and shame. 
Learn that of me ; and be this cheek your monitor. — 
Yet oh, my daughter ! 't was alone for thee! — 
Tyrant, I'll have thy life! — Come, boys. — My 
child! 

[Exeunt. 



ACT IV. SC. 1. 141 



Act the Foueth 

Scene I. A 'part of the Forum. 
Icilius and People. 

Icil. Children of Romulus ! — But I would rather, 
So ye will suffer it, call you Brutus' children; 
For Brutus was your better sire ; to him 
Ye owe it, that you stand not simply now 
Where the first plac'd you, subjects of a king, 
But your own sovereigns — when you dare be such — 
Which is not always. — 

2d Cit. That is over plain. 

Icil. When was truth otherwise, to those whose conscience 
Fears her reproaches ? If ye dare to rule, 
Why serve ye ? I will tell you. As the steed, 
Broke to the bit, forgets the natural power 
Which, us'd, would fling his rider headlong, so 

Your mouths are bitted 

2d Cit. Fy ! we are not brutes. 

Icil. The horse is valiant, generous, faithful : why 
Shame ye to be his parallel ? In the fight, 
Shrinks he with terror ? ' When the trumpet sounds, 
His eye darts fire, and his spread nostrils snort. 
Yet lo ! astride him are the master's limbs. 
Ye fight too — for your leaders — whipp'd and curb'd. 
'T is habit with you both, which makes this mastery 



11 '2 VIRGINIA. 



Seem like a part of you. But let volition 
Swell your big muscles to their natural force, 

"I" fa lord and stood uo longer. 

2d ('it. And no longer 

Shall be so! We arc Romans — Brutus 1 children. 

Jr'tJ. I hope so. But be still. Icilius loves 
Your voices, as the tyrant said ; but now 
lie wants your hearts. Time was, when public rights, 
Invaded, spoiFd, extinguished, wore alone 
Icilius' only sorrow : - 7 the bitter stream 
Flow'd pure, as from one source. Now, private grief 
Mixes its current with the popular flood, 
Made tonfold bitterer, but no longer pure. 
1st Cit. Why so, Icilius? there are husbands here. 
2d ( 'it. None the worse patriots, that they love their wives. 2 8 

Icil. True, 't is the aggregate of personal griefs 
Makes general sorrow, and the love of country 
Is but a loftier love of self: yet 't was 
Icilius' pride (man has no right to pride, 
And the gods punish it), no selfish care 
Peer'd through his zeal for freedom. You all have heard 

: to restore the tribunes : Appius said it : 
And I avow it. Avow it? I proclaim it. 
30 Alas for me ! their power suspended trials. 
fatal day! big with Rome's servitude, 
And doatli to me! when, to secure you laws, 
Ye gave u]) all for which the laws wore made, 
Setting these Ten above you, without appeal! 
Down wont the Tribunes ; and rose up, more thick 
Than ever your host of wrongs. What were you, what 



ACT IV. sc. 1. 143 



You are, I have said : strong steeds that bear a rider, 
Fighters of battles, whose cost is all jour own, 
Whose glory the patricians' ; yet more safe 
Amid your enemies' darts, than here, where bonds 
And outrage make the horrors of the field 
Su-eet as a bride-bed. Is the day so old, 
When the brave soldier from his prison burst, 
Haggard with famine, bleeding with fresh stripes, 
Made bare his mangled back, where the sharp spine 
Stood out uncover'd — for the creditor's lash 
Had stripp'd the fell starvation spar'd, — and shriek'd 
For vengeance ? 

2d Cit. And our fathers heard him. 

Icil. Ay. 
Mad with their wrongs, they nigh had crush'd the 

senate, 
But — mark ! they did not. And the consuls promis'd, 
(The Volscian war was imminent ;) and the people, 
Believing — is there aught ye '11 not believe, 
Ye credulous fools ! rush'd hither in vast crowds, 
To take the oath, and get reprieve from bondage 
Fear'd worse than death. They fought; and when 

they had conquer'd, 
Yolscians, Auruncians, both, then Appius Claudius, 
Meet grandsire of the man who now would violate 
The citizen's dearest rights, nor those alone, 
But even of Nature's self — this Appius, scorning 
His colleague's promise, drew again the gyves 
On the starv'd debtor, and once more the lash 
And workhouse were the recompense of valor 



1 1 1 VIRGINIA. 



And bilm of wounds. — Nay, save your groans. — 

AY hat follow'* 1 
Why did the legions cross the Anio ; there, 
With ditch and rampart fortify the Mount, 
And leave Rome to h%r terrors? AVas it not, 
Again they had been deluded, though again 
They had fought and conquer'd ? when, for very shame, 
The incens'd dictator (he was a Valerius, 
Not a Claudius) threw his office up. 
But glorious secession ! which taught the proud 
The uses of the humble, and obtain'd 
For the state's task-worn drudges their own magistrates, 
The sacrosanctity of whose office yielded 
Resort against oppression ! Yet again 
The thunder of the Veto shall be heard ! 
I hear its distant rumble in the clouds 
Which black the sky of freedom ! and its bolts 
May more than purge the air. 

2d Git Be 't ! Let them strike ! 
1st Cit. We will secede again. 

Icil. Secede? 

2d Cit. Ay, now. 
We want our tribunes. 

Icil. Surely, ye are mad. 
Talk of secession \ Then ye have forgot 
What yonr Bicinins paid to speak that word? 
1st C'r. N ". no; we have not! 

Icil. And to whom ? 

2d Cit. Nor that. 
Ifftirder'd by the decemvirs. 



ACT IV. sc. 1. 145 



Icil. Say, by Appius. 
The Ten are but the fingers of one pair 
Of active hands ; and that one pair is Appius. 
Murder'd by Appius ; but for whose strong will 
The fingers never could have clutch'd his life. 
Let me recall the atrocious deed. 'T is true, 
Not many moons have wan'd since, and the fact 
* Mainly is unforgot ; yet Time keeps wearing, 
Wearing ever the sharp impression down, 
Whose lines must be retouch'd to con it fair. 
What was Sicinius' crime ? He spoke as I, 
As you are doing. Must the tongue wear fetters ? 
Is thought, which has no substance for the chain, 
The only natural right the free have left, 
The free, so call'd, of Rome ? The man was one 
Worthy the name of man; and all true men 
Are fcai 'd of tyrants. So, at Appius' nod, 
The generals sent him — with a show of honor 

1st Git. Traitors ! we know it. 

Icil. Ay ; but hear. They sent him 
To explore the enemy's ground, and choose a camp-site. 
At a fit place for their design, the train, 
A century full 't is said, fell on the hero. 

1st Cit. He was a hero ! 

Icil. Of a hundred fights ; 
. The winner of a score of civic crowns, 
Besides* as many others; and his breast, 
Broad as the sea-god's, was one scar with wounds, 
Receiv'd for yon, for liberty, for Rome. 



146 VIRGINIA. 



1st ('it. We will avenge him! 

2d ('if. Life tor life! [amid a tumult 
of >■■ od swaying, as tcith 

om impulse of the same emotion. 
Icil, 'T is just. 
But hear me out. — He was a hero. Heroes 
Submit not tamely to be butcher'd. More, 
He was a freeman ; and his hundred foes, 
Though Komans too, were voluntary slaves, 
Traitors and tools of tyrants. With his back 
Against a rock, the freeman and the man 

Enter Valerius and Horatius. 

Bore up against the wdiole of Appius' slaves. 
1st Cit. lie was a Codes ! 

2d OIL An Horatius-Cocles ! 
Hbr. Go on, Icilius : and you [to Citzs.], mark the issue. 
Icil. Fifteen he slew, and on their bodies heap'd 
A score of wounded, if the count be true ; 
For as I told you, though they were all Romans, 
Ik- was a Roman freeman, and they slaves, 
The slaves of your Decemvir. So they clomb 
The steep behind him, and upon his head 
Boiling un^-en huge fragments of the crag, 
Finish'd their work. [The crowd again sways to and fro, 

with n deep murmur. 
Vol. And sent the heroic soul 
To wander on the spirit-shore, complaining 



ACT IV. SC. 1. 147 



He still is unaveng'd. 

2d Cit. But shall be so 
Xo longer ! 

1st Cit ) 
and others \ simuUaneousl ^] ^o ! no longer ! 

[They raise their right hands with a 

vehement and threatening gesture, 

and are moving up the scene. 

Hor. Say you so ? 
Come on ! 

2d Cit. On with Horatius ! 

Icil Stay! 

2d Cit. ISTo, on ! 
Liberty and Icilius ! Death to the tyrant. 

[The crowd take up this last cry. 
Icil. Friends, are you mad ? — Horatius I Is this wise ? 
Hear me a moment. 

Hor. And so give them time 
To cool and tremble. [The crowd pause, and oegin to 

form again about Icilius. 
Val. Quite as well as burn 
In their own fire. 

Hor. What matters, so their foe 
Burn with them ? 

Val. They 'd not think so ; and their foe 
Is little likely. "Would not all our order 
Take part with Appius ? — But Icilius speaks. 
Icil. Romans, 't is not I doubt you ; but the blow 
Must be both sure and sudden. Appius now 
Would be prepaid, and in a moment girt 
With nil his friends ; but here, alone amidst ye, 



1 18 VIRGINIA. 



An easy prey. Here then, Where flesh'd in crime 
The assassin tyrant would enact the ravisher, 
The Tarquin of man-murder stand proclaim'd, 
By his own month, the Tarquin for whose lust 
We who have wives and daughters must find food, 
Here, for our wives and daughters, let us striko, 
And by one blow free them, ourselves, and Eome. 

vj p.. > We will, we will! 

Icil. Think on Sicinius butcher' d ; 
And when the assassin, in the face of Jove, 
Fronting his Capitol, dooms to greater wo 
The good Virginius, and his child, and me, 
Think on your own Virginias, and remembering 
That ye are Junius Brutus' children, strike ! 

2d Cit. Remembering we are Brutus' children, strike ! 

And the crowd moves slowly up the scene, chiming in with 

2d Cit., at the word u Strike!" — Halting, they 

watch from the background the conference 

lehceen Hoe., Valee., and Icilius. 

Hot. T is spoken well, Icilius. But how long 
Will those flat ears retain the eloquent sound ? 
Thou shouldst have let them, when the arm was up, 
Strike. 

Icil. If the blow had swcrvM, what then ? Their chains 
Were riveted for ever. Give the mass 
The deep self-interest which impels the man, 
You make them constant ; but, till this be done, 
The impulsive power never has that force 
Which crusti The foes of Appius, 



ACT. IV. sc. l. 149 



In bulk, might bury under them his friends : 
Why do they not then do it? 

Val. Justly said. 
'T is only here, i' the Forum, where the wrong 
Done to Virginias shall new-point their rage 
For their own daily wrongs, and Appius' measure 
Of insolence and crime, already brimming, 
Flow over, the popular courage will make head 
Against habitual terrors. 

Hor. We shall see. 
When cool'd the metal, vain the workman's art 
To shape it to his wish. 

Icil. Wilt thou, Horatius, 
With thine own fire, maintain what heat is now, 
Keeping the iron ductile ? I must go * 

To seek Yirginius. 

Hor. What my breath may do, 
Depend on : but trust more the scanty time, 
And Appius' own imprudence. [Goes up the scene, and 
Reckons to the crowd, who gather round him eagerly, 
while he appears to harangue them. 
Val. Which shall have 
Full sweep. Be it mine to keep back Spurius Oppius 
With his twelve fasces. — Courage ! for this day 
Rome will be free. 

IciL I feel it ; yet, would Heaven, 
I were assur'd 't would cost me merely life ! 3 1 

[Exit, 

Valeeius, looking thoughtfully after him a moment, Exit at 

opposite side ; and the Scene changes — the dumb-show 

in the "background still continuing. 



160 VIRGINIA, 

Scenic IT. 

TJie Atrium of the house of Numitorius. . 

Virginia and Virgixius, meeting. 
At a little distance, following Virginia, Ntjmitokitts. 

Virg. My child ! ruy child ! — But thou as yet art safe, 
As yet my virgin daughter ! Jove himself 
Inspir'd thy timely summons. 'T was for Rome, 
As well as thee. 

Va. Heaven's providence. I knew not 
The oppressor's' cruel purpose; but, each day 
^ His insolent importunities increasing, 

I could no more keep silence ; and I fear'd 

To — [turning "her head in the direction of the door, as 

listening] to invoke It is his step ! 

Virg. Icilius' ? 
Thine ears are wondrous quick. Nay ! 'tis a love 
Thou hast no right to blush for; and the eve, 
( Be it to-morrow,) that shall make thee his, 
Renders thy sire the proudest in all Rome. 32 
Va. Alas! 

Enter Icilius, 

Icil. Virginias 1 father: happily come J 

Virg. Lucius, my BOD ! — Is Rome dead to all honor? 
7 . They that are dead to freedom have no honor. 
The people stood around, and saw thy daughter, 



ACT IV. SC. 2. 151 



Icilius 5 promised spouse, pronounced a slave ; 
And the foul mouth that dar'd the insult breathes. 
Honor ? where rule ten tyrants ? 

Virg. Patience, son. 
Icil. Look on this maid. Though Chastity had fled 
All other shrines, were not her temple here ? 33 
Feel that this innocent being is thy child 
Past any doubt ; then hear that Appius' pander 
Laid his polluting finger on her body, 
Asserting servitude, and ask of me, 
"Whom thou hast honor'd with this precious gift, 
Patience. 

Virg. To nerve thy arm for surer vengeance. 
Passion defeats its motive, and the blood, 
It forces to the vision, clouds its aim. 
He, who with fury would avenge a wrong, 
Flings off his buckler, and with naked breast 
Assaults a foe who carries sword and shield. 
But see, thy sister, with my nephew, comes. 

Enter 

ICILIA, With 0. NlIMITOKITTS. 

Virtuous Icilia ! my dear daughter's pride ! 
How much I owe thy counsel ! 

Ica. This alone : 
That it has follow'd where her heaven-wrought impulse, 
Wiser than simple reason, led the way. 
But thou art come, her sire, belov'd of Rome 



152 VIRGINIA, 

And honorM j and that sadden'd brow Bhall clear. 
Justice no more shall lend her snow-white pall 34 
To hood Oppression, or the hand of Truth 

Shall strip it off the borrower. But, poor child! 

[dbn wring Virginia, who stands in an attitude of 
sad submission, shoioing the resignation 
of a pious but dejected mind. 
Her heart is terror-shaken, and the voice 
Of Hope is answered by no joyous beat. 
Yirg. Cheer thee, my daughter ! when my proofs are heard, 
Even lust and tyranny will shame to answer, 
And the rous'd Forum thunder with our triumph. 
Icil. Or if that tyrants know not, as I deem, 

The sense of shame, its temple-walls shall shake 
TTith thunder that is more than sound. 

Virg. Thou mean'st? 

[eagerly. 
Icil. The people are at last awake. The voice, 
That dooms to slavery the free of Rome, 
Bas .-truck on their drugg'd senses; and the sun 
Xow going down will pour his level ray, 
Xot on a cringing crowd, and in their midst, 
Bound to the altar of a tyrant's lust, 
This innocent victim, but the overthrown tribunal, 
And Rome's last tyrant making with his blood 
Atonement for her violated laws. 
Virg. Thy brows are knitted, and thy bearded lip 
Gtather'd within is fellow, and thine eyes 
Burn with a lire too stca'ly for mere rage; 



ACT IV. SC. 1. 153 



And Publius' own are fulgent with new hope. 35 

It must be so. O joy ! The people then ? 

Icil. Champ on the bit, and hardly were rein'd in. 
Horatius would have driven them on at once, 
And ply'd the lash. But 't was too dread a risk. 
'T is on the trial, when the blow is sure, 
Their rage shall work. 

Virg. Be welcome then the trial! 
Borne was my mother, ere thou wast my child, 
Virginia. 

Va. And what mother has thy child 
But Borne? 

Virg. Do ye hear this, eternal gods ? 
Your thrones are bas'd on everlasting right : 
Ye will not suffer virtues like your own 
To be the sport of vice. 
Va. [to Iciliiis, where they stand apart] Alas, my father ! 
He sees not, were my virtues truly such, 
They have no place on earth ! 

Icil. For pity, hush ! 
Num. 'T is not to be the sport of vice, when vice, 
Outraging virtue, proves but Heaven's touchstone 
To assay its gold ; nor will affliction, brother, 
Which is the fire to purify that gold, 
Be suffered to confound it with the dross. 
Va. Except to achieve some mighty good, whose weight 
Makes the pure ore rise flimsy as the dross. 
What is Virginia, that Virginia's wo, 
If instrumental to the general joy, 



154 \ iraiiMA. 



Should move Heaven's pity ; when even to herself 
[ta bitterness would be welcome! 

I7/v/. my child ! 
Thou griev'st and gladd'st me equally. The gods 
Will not desert thee ! 

Icil. Nor shall man. The fire, 
Thy wrongs have stirr'd, Iloratius' eager breath 
"Will not permit to gather-o'er its ashes. — 
Yirg. And I have what shall fan it to a blaze. 

Caius, thou hast been long o'erlook'd. Thy friend, 
The brave young Quintus, how appears he now? 

[Icil., Virginia, and Numitorius, hut 

especially the former, show earnest 

attention and surprise. 

C. Numit. The wound proves but a slight one, as thou saidst, 

Good uncle. — 

lea. And the foolish boy so proud 
To have gain'd it, and in such a cause, I doubt 
Its speedy scarring will much please him. 

Icil. Wound? 
And Quint as? What is this? 

Yirg. A fan, of two, 
Kept for the fire we speak of. Wait their blast. 
To hear it now, thy rage would know no bounds. 
Gentle Icilia, and thou, boy, be close: 
Even prudent Numitorius must awhile 
Content him with like ignorance. — My son, 
The awful moment — ■ whatsoe'er our fate — 
Most be at hand. T is fit we part. Go thou, 



ACT IV. SC. 3. 155 



Mix with the people, and their wavering mood 
Make steady with thine eloquence : their ire 
Must take from thy strong passion keener edge. 
Most kind Icilia, who art come, I feel, 
To be beside thy friend, go with her, 
And let Lucilla robe her in the garb 
In which she mourn'd her mother. I myself 
Will borrow of thee, Publius, some mean mantle, 
"Whose sordid folds accord with my distress. 
Come, we must soon be summon'd. 

Va. Father ! [looking 
from him, and stretching her arms to Icilius. 

Virg. Yes ; 
Embrace, my children. Thou all- seeing Jove, 

{spreading his hands over them, as Icil. 
clasps Virginia to his Ireast. 
Whose awful eyes look down with love and pity 
On this most innocent pair, O let their woes 
Here end forever, and this last embrace 
Be but as parting on a gloomy eve 
To meet a cloudless morrow ! 

A single and loud clap of thunder rolls over the scene, and 
shakes the walls. 

Virginia and Icilius part instantly — all present listening 
with horror as the sound dies away. 

C. Num. [clasping his hands in terror.] Merciful Heaven ! 
'T was on the left! 



156 VIRGINIA. 



]"</. [to IrU.] Thy promise I 

Icil. It is vow'd. 

Virginia and [cilia Exeunt at one sole, while, in the apposite 

■'?ion, Iohjus, muffling his head in his mantle, 

Exit hurriedly. 

YniGiNirs, burying his face in his hands, remains in Ms 2>osi- 

tioiu supported by Numitokius, while Caius seems to 

coiccr icithfeeir, his face still upraised to the 

roof and Ms hands locked together. 

The Drop falls. 



ACT V. SC. 1. 157 



Act the Fifth 

Scene I. A part of the Forum. 

M. Claudius, going up to Livia, who enters. 

Marc. Thou art here. 

Liv. But is Yirginius ? — Palter not ! 

If he appear not Thou hast heard me. 

Marc. True, 
And need no echo. Till the girl appear, 
How can I answer thee ? Come on. 

Liv. No, here 
I wait my summons. Is thy patron come ? 
Marc. Behold ! [pointing off the scene. 

Liv. Even now ascending ; with an air 
As if earth would not suffer him to fall. 
Yet he may down. 

Marc. Perchance. But, being up, 
'T were well to think that he may see us here 
From his high place, and bid me drag thee thither. 
Liv. That thou may'st do ; but canst thou make me speak ? 
For thou, nor thy decemvir. Here I stay. 
When the sad father passes with his child, 
I follow. If he fail, thou want'st me not. 

Mapxts, regarding her steadily a moment, Exit — ichen Livia, 

who has returned his look, draws her mantle over her head, 

and the Scene c7ia?igcs. 



158 VIKCINIA. 

Scene II. 
Another part of the Forum. 
A. Luobbtius; T. Quixctius; L. Valerius. 

VaL Titus, behold ! our Jove is on his throne ! 
See where his subject mortals group around — 
With looks that would affright more vulgar gods. 
Lucr, Xot without cause. Why, Lucius, look again! 
VaL By Hercules, thou art right! The Rotors' rods 
A re chang'd for spears ! their heads are helm'd ; and, see ! 
What glitters on their breasts in the sun's rays ? 
Does simple wool shine thus ? What say'st thou now, 
Thou lukewarm Titus ? Aims yon sceptred hand 
To grasp the kingly diadem, or no? 
Aims ; for he shall not reach it! no ! his arm, 
Or mine, shall first drop nerveless. 

Quinc. All my hopes 
Thou knowest are with thee. Yet I still must doubt. 

His friends are legion ; and his foes 

Vol. A host. 

Quinc. Of pointing disdainfully off the scene, 

VaL Men, good as his foes : at least, as strong; 
For I see Aulas little likes the praise. 
Lucr. My tastes are In abeyance till the issue. 
I doubl your commons will not be too sage 
After their victor;.', and foresee the day 
Their tribunes will usurp a power, might make 
Even Appius blush. But, for the nonce, your mob 



ACT V. SC, 3. 159 



Shall have their way — unless those dozen spears 
Cool their intent. My friends are posted : Appius 
Will cry in vain for succor. 

Val. Part we then. 
Keep Quinctius. [in undertone.] Liberty ! [going off. 

lucr. The senate's rights ! 

[Exit with Quinc. in 

opposite direction, and Scene changes to 



Scene III and Last. 

The Forum, as in Act II, Scenes 1 and 3. 

Appius, on the tribunal, holding his sceptre of office, and sur- 
rounded by his Lictors armed. Behind the tribunal are 
seen other soldiers ; and near him, but a little behind, a 
Messenger attending. — Maecus Claudius. — A Her- 
aid or Crier. — P. Kumitoeius ; C. Numitoeius ; Q. Icil- 
ius — his arm in a sling. — Citizens. 

Enter 

Yiegixius, in an old and soiled toga, leading Vieginia, in a 
rnourning-cloaJc, b her head muffled with the same. Be- 
side Ya. icallcs Icilius, and behind her Icilia and the 
Nurse; a train of Matrons, weeping, follow immediately, 
and, at a little d. 'stance, comes also Livia. 



160 VIRGINIA. 



App. [starting.] Virginias I — Traitor! [to Marcus, in an 

undertone, 
Yirg. And (o tliy dismay. 

Hear, Romans! hear what 

Num. Patience, yet awhile. 
[MarcuSy at this moment, gives a signal to Ap)pius, 
by looking quickly and significantly at Lima. 
Lose not what little chance thou mayst have left 
For a fair trial. 

Aj>p. Trial thou shalt have — 
Though the tribunal might be spar'd it, sure 
Beforehand the defence is futile all, 
Or mere imposture. [Murmur in the People — while Nu- 
mitorius is seen restraining Icilius. 
Silence there, ye frogs ! 
If ye 'Id not have me fling a stone among ye, 
Or drain your filthy pool, since undisturb'd 
Ye croak thus ! Herald, rise. And let the Assertor 
Bring on his proofs. 
Num. [indicating to Icil. and Virg., ichile the Herald steps 
out, the evident and deep resentment of the people. 
The pool heaves like a sea. 
More of this insolence, and we are safe. 
Herald. Silence ! [Marcus leads up Lima. 

Marc. Behold the mother of the slave. 
Lcil. Let her unhood. And thou, Virginius, mark! 
Virg. Li via! — Slave? the mother free? [to the people, 
with an expression of scorn and indignation. 
Apy. Be still ! 
Else here are those shall make thee. And, observe — 



ACT V. SC. 3. 161 



When 't is thy time to speak, to us, thy judge, 
Turn that bold visage. "Woman, now proceed. 

Enter Horatius, 

behind the crowd, and, mixing with the people, 

is seen earnestly exhorting them. 

Lid. A plain tale, great decemvir. I was slave 
To Claudius, when Yirginius, here in presence, 
Had knowledge of me. Witness that, his child, 
Born of our commerce, on his dame impos'd 
For her dead babe, to save his blood from thraldom. 
This let Yirginius, if he dare, gainsay. 
His love for me is known. 

Virg. And they who know, it 
Know that I freed this woman, for that love. 
She was my captive, brought from taken Antium. 
I lov'd her honestly ; ft was ere I had met 
Thy sister, Publius.) But, being taught in time 
Her falsehood with yon Claudius, plaintiff here, 
I flung her off, as I would fling a viper, {Lima draws her 

mantle again over her face. 
Never having known her in the way she says. 37 
I swear it by yon Heaven, which now let down 
Its thunder on my sacrilegious head, 
If I swear falsely ! 

Ajpp. Yonder heaven is clear. 
The cloud is spent, whose solitary clap 
Late shook the Capitol, nor has Jove bolts 
To waste on such as thou. Youch more profanely. 
Nor canst thou be a witness for thyself. 



162 VTRGINIA. 



Icil [adwmoing.] But 1 can, for him. [JEbratius comes forward. 

Vlrg. And Virginias' honor, 
Like thai Of all true Romans, is most lit 
To swear by, Binoe thou sottcst nought by Jove. 
App, Thine honor, and his evidence, {indicating, oy a con- 
ic mptuous and slight toss of the head, Icil.'] aliko 
Weigh nothing here, where each has puissant cause 
To falsify. 
Xumit. [adjuring Icil. and Virg. and putting himself in their 
icay.] Yet, for Virginia's sake ! 
Hor. [restraining Icil. and Virg. oy motion of the hand. 

But I 
Have none. T, for Virginius' honor, pledge 
My own ; and what Icilius may not vouch, 
That shall Iloratius. [Murmurs of satisfaction in the 

croicd.] Yonder wretched woman 
Is either slave or free. A slave, she has 
No right to give her testimony, save 
By torture ; free, she is perjur'd, and the suit 
Falls to the ground, and her vile life is forfeit. 

[Murmurs increase. 
Bat even if not, and could it he the child 
Of a free woman should be born a slave, 
Still is the witness worthless, for that I, 
Marcus Iloratius, know her lewd of life. 
This vouch I by mine honor, and in face 
Of the high gods! [Burst of applause. 

App, What! dare ye clamor, curs? 
Who 18 Iloratius, that his simple word 
Should make ye yelp thus, more than his, or hers? 



ACT V. SC. 3. 163 



Ear. Thine equal, Appius ! in all points but one, 
And in that one thy better ; nor dar'st thou, 
Spite the high place thou boldest over long, 
Make rue the mate of such things. I have given 
My evidence. Impeach it, if thou canst ; 
If thou lik'st, swear me. 

2d Cit. Ay, and let them swear ! 
He has not sworn, nor she. 

Hor. Nor has the judge. 
'T is proper on all sides. 

1st Git. But make them swear. 
Give them a stone. 

Liv. I am ready. [As she takes the stone 
offered oy Marcus, Appius whispers 
the Messenger, who disappears.'] 
If from guile 
I dear false witness, may the day's dread sire, 

Even as this stone I cast away, so me 

Icil. [to the people.] Let her not proceed! Had she the right, 
As she has none, being woman, slave, and vile, 
Let her not swear ! Who could not do as much ? 
They who dare lie in Heaven's face, what risk they, 
Calling high Jove to witness to their truth ? 
Nor swear that valiant Roman and true man, 
Horatius. Such need no attest. Time was, 
That honor was to Roman freeman what 
Hell's awful flood is to the gods, of oaths 
The dreadest, and their sworn or simple word 
"Was better than the bonds of other men, 



16 * YIKCINM. 



Bui now [facing App.] } since tyranny lias set its yoko 

On our eurv'd neoks like cattle 

App. Hast thou done? 
IeiL Thou hear'st. — We crouch like them, and tremble ; 

More bestial still than cattle, that we have tongues 
Which lawn, and cringe, and skulk; and, honor now 
But little known, man trusts man's word no more, 38 
Bat calls the Unseen, whose vengeance is remote. 
Thus they, who outrage Heaven by daily crime, 
Swear sooner than good men, having less to lose. 
Witness yon tool of your decemvir. Him, 
( 1 i ve It lui the Jove-stone ? Cast-away of Jove, 
What recks he of a second hurling, so 
His carcass 'scape the throw decreed them here 
Who mock thus gods and men ; for 'scape it will — '— 

People. No! 
lull. Yes; for who made the laws sits there, and breaks 
them 
Openly in your faces. I have done, [to Appim. 

Enter Lucketius — sloioly, 
(keeping apart?) 

App. [nsolent rebel! It is such as thou, 

Who mock both gods and men, affecting justice, 
And making even religion but a stool 
To mount to station; it is such as thou, 
Who turn yon rabbh-ment to coward cattle, 
Making them crouch and lick the treacherous hand 
That smooths their coarse necks but to yoke them. 
Trembl 



ACT V. SC. 3. 165 



"Was it an Appius in the Yolscian war 
That made them tremble, when the villains fled, 
Leaving my valiant sire ? whose soul, thank Heaven, 
I bear as well as name ! 

[The people are seen in violent commotion, Hoeatitts among 

them gesticulating in an animated manner, yet 

as if secretly. 

Lucretius, a little removed, looles on. 

Icil. Even so. — Quirites ! 
Children of Romulus ! Ye have not forgotten 
'T was Appius, this man's sire, whose soul he boasts, 
That scourg'd and gave to the axe your bravest soldiers, 
Pick'd men, and the centurions, bastinading 
So cruelly every tenth man of the rest, 
That hundreds died, whence, after, the rous'd troops 
Refused to fight, so that their enemies jeer'd them; 
Whereas with Quinctius, Appius' kindly colleague, 
So ready were they then, these recreant legions, 
The JSqui durst not even march by the camp ! 

[The commotion has increased, 

and now, with one voice. 

People. 'T is true ! 

Icil. Why do ye stand then? Come! [moving towards 

the tribunal, while the people rush forward, led oy 

Horatius — Lucretius tal-ing no part. Appius 

malces a sign to the Victors, and they advance 

with ported spears, ichen the people halt. 

App. Because I bid them. 



106 VIKiiLNIA. 



Afisertor Thco [to Fcil.~\, and tliy true Roman there, 

[indicating Ilorat. with I iJce significance. 
Presently. — Assertor, take thy slave. 
Va. [while thepeopU) still led by Herat, rush boldly letirccn 
her and the Lictors, — Lucretius now moving, out 
slowly, with them. TJie Matrons press still 
closer to Virginia, and hem her round. 
Now, Lucius! 
Jcil. All is not hopeless yet. See! [indicating the people. 
Luor. [advancing lefore the people?^ Appius, stay ! 
Albeit cattle, the drove is over strong, 
Even for thy spears. 
App. [furiously.'] Make way there ! Dastards! 

[to Lictors. 
Eor. On! 
On! 

App. Do your duty ! [Lictors attempt to charge. 
Lucr. Halt there ! we have horns. 
[pointing quietly to the crowd, several of whom 
have put their hands to their tunics. 
Appius, be wiser. Credit me, even now 
The shears close on thy life's thread. 

App. Rather thine, 
Thou recreant noble. People ! men of Rome ! 

I thirst not for your blood 

2d Git. Why then those spears? 
App* Because of treason, plots against the State, 
Whose head am I — plots of Icilius. Whercforo 
Wear ye else hidden arms? 38 

JriL Because of treason, 



ACT V. SC. 3. 167 



Treason against the State, whose head thou art not, 

Except by usurpation. Such the law 

Of great Valerius makes deserving death. 39 

[Turning rapidly to the people.] Brothers! children of 

Brutus ! what avails it 
Our fathers drove out kings ? And for what crime ? 

There sits your Tarquin 

App. But thou stand'st not Brutus. 4 ° 
Lictors ! Seize, slay Icilius ! 

Va. Me ! rather me ! 
Save him, Eomans ! 

Lucr. [stepping oetween Icil. and the Lictors, 
while Virg. holds T>ack his daughter, 
pressing her to his oreast. 
Appius, art thou mad ? 
'T is the last time I move to shield thee. 

App. Thou ! 
Stand from the way : I would not shed thy blood. 
People of Rome ! resistance is in vain. 
The majesty of justice shall not bow, 
Save o'er my fallen body. Look behind me, 

[The people, already not over ardent, 
are seen to falter, despite the 
efforts of Horatius. 
"Where stand twelve armed men to back these twelve ; 
And Oppius hears my summons for twenty more. 
Hot. Thou wilt not get them. 
App. [looking around in alarm.] How now ! 

Lucr. It is sure. 
Thou art beset on all sides, or cut off 



1G8 VIKCINIA. 



From other aid than those. Give justice way, 
Thon'rt safe — at least from violence. 

App* Who but ye 
Are her impediments ? The sire was heard — 
Prpv'd nothing; sentence was decreed. If still 
Respondent have aught left to urge, we hear him. 
But, the next outrage! — Speak. 

Virg, And all give ear. 
I have two arrows left. Though the first miss, 
The next shall hit the mark. And thou, beware ! 

[to App. 
App, Bend thy bow quickly, or I break the shaft. 
Virg. [turning Va, to face tlie people, uncovers her features. 
Daughter, unveil. [Pauses. — A general "burst 
of pity and admiration. Tlie Matrons 
sob aloud. 
1st Matron. shame to Soman manhood ! 
Will no arm strike for her? 

Virg. I, I myself, 
With these hands took her up, this virgin, this 
ill tender girl, and plac'd her in my bosom. 
Her feeble cry, tlie soft clasp of her fingers, 
Whose little fold just met around my thumb, 
Are present to my soul as fresh as then. 
O Romans — fathers I O mothers ! (she alas ! 
lias none — none now! ) say, are these feelings proper 
To me alone! or speak I what all know, 

Have felt BS 1? 



Matrons, $ 



ACT V. SC. 3. 169 



Virg. Could I feign these feelings ? 

Or does my language witness 

Marc, [interrupting Mm.] No one doubts 
The emotion, nor the truth of him who vaunts it. 
But I say, Romans — and 1 too dare address ye 
As fathers — and ye mothers too, and wives — 
These feelings are delusive ; for the true 
Virginia expir'd, ere almost she had cry'd, 
And this, the false, Yirginius never took 
Up to his bosom — never to avow her, 
Though he have clasp'd her there a thousand times, 
And fancied 't was the babe he had so rais'd. 
Hum. [eagerly.'] Yirginius then had no part in the cheat ! 
Marcus and Livia contradict each other ! 
App. But little ; for the maiu points are the same. 41 
Yirg. [looMng round upon the crowd and seeing the impres- 
sion made oy Marcus. 
That shaft has miss'd. And yet I deem'd the point 
Had pierc'd the heart of every Roman, at least 
Of every Roman mother through and through, 
As if they were but one, I shot so straight. 
Covering her features again, he consigns Va. to Icilia, who 
supports her as lefore, and the Matrons 
instantly close round them. 
1st Matr. There are no Romans ; our degenerate bowels 
Give birth to monsters, as.Icilius said. 
Icil. Better be barren, or in tbe unshapen germ 
Wither your bodies' fruit, than suffer travail, 
And give your paps to daughters, whose fresh bloom 
Shall deck the slave-mart! 
8 



170 VIRGINIA. 



1st Mdtr. Better wither all 1 

[And th< other women take up 
the cry, — " Wither all I" 
App. [to JV/v/.J Let fly thy other Bhaft. 

Virg. *T is at thy heart. 
Gome forward, boys, [to Gains and Quint, 

These youths were present, Romans, 
When Appius' slave show'd tables from his mastor 
Bidding his colleague keep me at the camp 
For two days. [Appius half -rises.'] Mark your ruler! 

But 1 then 
Was on m\ way. Nor is this all. Three villains, 

Hired to slay me, set on us near Rome 

Ilor. Of the same sort that took charge of Sicinius 

[Commotion. 
Virg. And would have earn'd their pay, hut for our steeds, 
We being unarnrd ; and Quintus {pointing to latter* % 
arm,] barely 'scap'd. 

[App., turning quickly, speaks to 
the soldiers behind him. 
Toil, [who has listened with fiery impatience. 

\< this enough I Now, suns of Brutus, strike! 

[rushes forward, >r'<Ut his poniard drawn — 
Horat. and Lncrct., on either side 
of him, in same manner. 
2d ('it. Down with the murderer! 

ist ('it. For our freedom, strike! 
App. [pointing to Icil. as tht latter turns about to encourage 
tin people. 
Thrust, soldiers, ther 



ACT. V. SC. 3. 1*71 



Liter, [putting aside a spear leveled at leil. 

Stain to thy order. Appius ! 
Lucretius tights now on the people's side. 
IIov, [same act.] I told thee so, Aulus. — [Turning fiercely on 
the people, who give way before the soldiers. 
Traitors ! what means this ? 
Jpp. Death to thy hopes, Iloratius. Soldiers, halt! 

People ! 

Icil. Rome ! Rome ! 

1st Cit. Icilius weeps ! 
Icil. [indignantly uncovering his face, which lie had muffled. 

42 "Weeps ? for ye will not let him shed but tears, 
Even for liberty. 

\st Cit. Yet Appius should he heard. 

2d Cit. Perhaps so. But Virginias 1 tale 

App. Is such — 

43 A fiction. Appius stoops not to say more. 

. [hastily.] If 't he a fiction, how like the truth ! 
Citizens, I myself have known, have seen, 
The importunities your decemvir offered, 
Even in the common streets — worse still, the gifts 
Sent to this maiden, to this Roman girl — 
Plebeian chastity being a thing to barter, 
Unlike Lucretnf s. — 

1st Matr. Hear her! 

App, Peace, ye trash ! 
[Icil. is seen to repress a violent emotion. 
L range, till Appius' lures had fail'd, 

Bifl client's pretext never was put forth! 



] 72 yik<;inia. 



'. Woman, who art thou ? But I need not ask. 
Thou art the sister of the would-be tribune. 

Thy tongue, like his, has motive to he false. 
Idh [passionately to the people. 
Must we hoar this . ; 

App. Much more, if 't be too light. 
Lictors, make room: strike none but who oppose. 
Once more, Assertor, take, as right, thy slave. 

The People still stand between the advancing Lictors and the 
party that surrounds Virginia, lut give icay, though 
oly, sullenly, reluctantly, step by step, except the Ifa- 
trons, who boldly oppose themselves to the armed men, and 
%lill hi m her round. Icilius is seen approaching the group, 
his hand he/ore his face. The Lictors, hesitating to stop 
him^ looJc round to Appius for directions. Lucretius and 
IIoratius, with their eyes on the Lictors, stand ready to 
sustain Icilius. 

Va. Lucius! Now! now! 

Lcil. I come, Virginia. 

Virg. [to lcil.] Stay. 

Tii I'in 'j Viboinia hy the hand, he leads her by Marcus (who, 

loohing at [oil., hesitates to oppose), towards the tribunal, 

folio i red hy the Nurse, and supported by Icilia. 

[to Mare.] Thy band withhold a moment. — Appius, pardon 
The outbreaks of a father's grief; and suffer, 
Before I part forever from my child, 
I question her apart, her nurse, and friend, 



ACT V. SC. 3. 11 € 



And put at rest my doubts. 

App. We grant thy prayer. 
But be not long ; the clay draws to a close. 

The light here suddenly falling, as at the going-down of the 

sun, the stage decomes gloomy. 

ViKGrxius etc. talce their way to the shops, followed closely 

oy Icilius, icho is oeckoned on ly Virginia. • 

Virginius snatches a hiifefrom one 

of the open w indoles. 

Yirg. [stalling her.] My child, return unto thy mother. 

[Resigning her to the arms of lea. and Nurse, 
while Icil. hangs over her, and Iran- 
dishing the Jcnife. 
Appius ! 
To the Hell-gods, with this blood, I devote thee ! 
Marc. He has kilPd his daughter ! [Burst of horror from the 
People, while Appius rises upright 
from Ms chair. 
App. Seize on the murderer ! 
Yirg. [rushing to the people with the hiife held up. 

Romans ! I have us'd a father's right, the law 
And nature gave ; sole refuge from pollution. 
Hot. 'T is just. Down with the lictors ! 

[striking down the foremost. 
2d Cit. Death to the Tarquin ! 
[wresting his spear from the next. 
1st Cit. [almost at same moment.] 

Throw Marcus and the woman from the rock ! 



lli VIRGINIA, 



77 Lie ion, stabbed, or their arms 

1 \a\\\ with them — 
Peopl pursuing. 
Appius, /' tribunal^ towards which the rest 

thing, i tzwro to escape. Throwing down the 
with its chair, they spring upon him, 
Yii:«,imi rs (thi I'nife still raised) with than, 
followed by Caius and Quintus. 
Numitobius and the Matrons gather around Virginia, who is 
wght to the forepart of the Scene, — the tumult 
I cries, and struggle against Appius, all 
the while continuing. 

2d Git Down with the tribunal! 

Ilor. Leave to me ! 



Liter. To me, 
The tyrant ! 

Icmius, pressing Virginia a moment in his arms, springs after 
them, leu l lug back the crowd to get at Appius, who, strik- 
ing down 'he foremost of his assailants with his scep- 
tre, flings it away, eind draws his poniard. 

Ml. No! — Back! Lack! 

App. To none ! 

[stabs himself 
Appius dies worthy of himself and name — 
Bends thee that, accursed dog! 

Hurling the \ oniar >' at [cilius, whom it misses, Appius, 
/■• nl in his mantle, falls and expires. 



ACT V. SC. 3. 175 



Icil. [dropping his own poniard.] 

'T is better thus. [He returns, to Jiang over Virginia. 

Voice of S-p. Oppius ) -□- i n t 

oithin i ve com P an y- 

Enter 
Valerius and Quinctius. 

Vol. "We have heard. To escape the people, Spurius 

Oppius 
Has slain himself. 

Exeunt, 

slowly, and separately, in different directions, all the 

Citizens, save 1st and 2d Cit., who sltnd oy the 

body of Appius, out looking on the 

party 0/ Viegixius. 

Va. {opening her eyes.] Is ? t thou, Icilia? Kind! 
Where is my father ? Did I dream the joy ? 
Or is Rome — liberated? 

Virg. 'T is at last, my — child : 
But at what cost ! 

Va. I knew it. I am content. 
Yet, is it — painful. Lucius — my beloved — 
Receive — my last breath. Father, I — die — pure. 44 
Virg. Thou diest a Roman ; and thou diest free. 

Virginia, putting up her lips to Icilius, her arms 
extended to him, expires. 



JT() V IK., I MA. 



[ohjub, having received her last breath, withdrawing his lips, 
resigns her to his sister, l\fU his hire a moment upwards 
. then m/uffles his head with his mantle, 
Yii:<.iNirs. turning aside his face, covers it with his hand. 
The Ni bse is lying, gathered in a heap, at thi dead girl's 
feet, with her face to the ground, wrapped in the 
skirt 0/ Virginia's garment. 
HonATirs. Lucretius, and the rest, stand in various attitudes 
of grief and aire, the Matrons sodding, hut low, be- 
hind, while faintly, from within the scene, is 
heard, as far in the distance, the 
cry ^"Liberty!" 
and the 



Curtain falls. 



IN O T E S 



NOTES TO VIRGINIA 



1. — P. S6. The shadow of tliy icings, three times this hour — ] This 
is the stage-reading. I have a memorandum, that in print it would be 
better to substitute the less pointed " day" ; for the Romans, at this 
early period, did not divide the day by hours. — But " hour " must 
pass even here ; since there is no other way to express the brief time of 
the conference, to which alone Appias refers. 

2.— P. 86. TJie people laid him out/] For the Stage (as the language 
cannot be too perspicuous for an audience, who have not the time to 
pause upon a phrase), there may be substituted : " The people buried 
him ! " or " A pauper's burial ! " 

So, in the passage above, — If thou go down, my head, Be sure, rests 
not unmuffled, — though Shakspeare's mention of Caesar's action, when 
about to expire, has made the custom alluded-to sufficiently familiar to 
a mixed audience, yet, if deemed more directly explicit, the actor may 
recite as follows : 

" 'When Appius veils his head, 
Be sure my mantle hangs not from the shoulder. 
"We fall together. 

Jjnp. Now, no more. — One thing," etc, (as in the text.) 



180 NOTES TO 



! i then, When Lucius from 

uk try Unto tht people, his arms about thee cast 

-1 "TamAppios ad Valerium, nega- 

tuin Be privato reticere, lictorem Bocedere jussir. Jam Quiritium fidem 
imploraota Valerio a ouria limine, L. Cornelius [M. Cornelii decemviri 
Orator] complexos A.ppium,non cni simolabat consulendo, diremit certa- 
meo. Liv. in. c. 87. p. 186 ta\ Tra {ex recent. Drakenborch.) (torn. 
in B°, 

4.— P. 89. While thou shall help me to dispose my ?na/Ule—] The 
Roman toga, which resembled greatly the Spanish capa, and in this 
form, though of smaller dimension, is still seen on the Italian priests in 
Borne, required, as does the capa, some care in the disposition of its 
folds. What pains were taken by the orators may be imagined without 
the Story of llortensius and the minute directions of Quintilian. Appius 
is not finical, even for that early day of the Commonwealth. 

The object, however, for which I mark this passage, is to call the 
attention of the Actor to a point that is habitually neglected on the 

ge. The toga was an out-door habit. To make the Roman wear it 
m the house, as a 7touse-dress, is almost as much out of costume as it 
would be in a comedy to dress the characters in-doors in Spanish man- 
ties, or, indeed, in any sort of cloak. It is not worse, it is true, than 
Ki'-hard's crown and furred robe in liosworth-field ; but such absurdi- 
Shoald be avoided by any player studious of propriety, without 
which, effect is but unnatural, and illusion is impossible. 

I tiie precise cut of the Roman mantle, there is, it may be said, 
DO positive indication. We have it represented, and the description 
supported by authorities, as round, as semi-circular, and even as sqttare, 
that is, rectangular or having straight lines on all its sides, while some 
do not hesitate to maintain that it was stitched together from top to 
bottom. •■ It may safely be supposed, that while the mode of wearing 



* Bernttfaw, in m ;:i ,i and aloe i (i>< Re Pestiarta, lib. i. c. 

>• P- ( ' 1 ' 1 Thesaur. vol. rL—Venet. in fol. 1782), would give as the 



VIRGINIA 181 



it was almost always the same, so far at least as the bringing of the 
right side over the left shoulder, which was partly a necessity arising 
from its length and amplitude, the cut differed according to the means, 
if not the occasions of the wearer. Do we not see Spaniards who wear 
the common French and English cloak like their national capa? Yet 
these are square in all their edges ; while the capa, to which I have 
compared the ancient Roman mantle, is, when amplest, a perfect cir- 
cle ; the two front edges being laid together, the centre is the hole 
formed by the collar. Take away the cape and collar, and you have a 
toga. But when the capa is less full (and this is almost always the 
case), it makes, spread out, a semicircle. Without this circular sweep 
of the bottom edge, it could not form those graceful or those majestic 
folds which, when the right side is thrown over the left shoulder, make 
this mantle conspicuous among the few that still survive the ugly fash- 
ions which the quick movements of a busier modern life have intro- 
duced. But for the authorities. Among the ancients, Quintilian says 
distinctly that the toga was round : " Ipsam togam rotundam esse, et 
apte csesam velim. Aliter enim multis modis fiet enormis." Orat. Inst. 
XL 3., Colon, in 12° 1528, p. 517. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, that it 



Mexican poncho (as I have heard it called), which is a circular cloak without 
opening save in the centre, to admit the head and neck. As to his citation 
from Gellius Gih. vii.), that in the earliest times the Romans wore nothing- 
whatever on their person hut the toga, it would not follow that if then it was, 
for obvious reasons, closed in front, it should continue to be so when worn over 
another garment, and judging hy the modern use of a cloak we might say just 
the contrary. The same necessity, for closing in the first case, would exist for 
leaving it open in the latter. 

Aldus Manutius (De Toga Romanov., ap. Grxvium ubi. cit. p. 1192,) main- 
tains the same strange opinion, using the same baseless argument derived from 
the custom of a semi-barbarous antiquity. All the statues, so far as I know, 
that represent the outer garment sewed up to the breast or neck, indicate the 
Isena, or pienula, traveling and foul- weather cloaks. See note 25. 



182 NOTES TO 



was semicircular, He tells us that when the Etruscan ambassadors 

pted the conditions of L Tarquinius, that is, of complete surrender, 

they brought to him, a few days after, the symbols of sovereignty with 

which they adorned their own kings, and among them the purple tunic 

n ith gold (xiTwa T€ iTopcpvpovu xP v(roa ' 7 } l u -oi') and the varicga- 

Sk OT robe (lea: ire pifioXaiov irop(pvpovv iroiKLkov)^ 

such as the kings of the Lydians and Persians wore, except that it was 

ike tJait, but half -circular : ir\7]v ov r er pay oopo p 

ye rep axv H- a T L , Ka&airep eneipa 7)v, a A A* 7)/j.ikvk\lop. And 

he adds immediately : ra Be roiavra tup a/ncpLacfiarccp 'Pcofj-aioi fxep 

royas, 'EWypes Be r 77 /3 € vvov KaXoucip. (Antiq. III. 01. — p. 187, 

t. i. i '. Hudson. Oxon. in fol. 1704.) t Among modern writers, Sigonius, 



* "SVinkelinanu, who maintains that the form of the toga was round ("zir- 

kelrund geschnitten,") committed the strange oversight to find in the passage 

of Dionysius, presently cited, the adjustment or envelopment (UmneJnncn), 

otherwise cast of the mantle described by the semi-circular outline, not its 

furm. His commentator fails not to remark this error pf perhaps a too rapid 

lug, or of the prejudice of theory or the near-sightedness caused by prccon- 

•1 opinions ; and he adds : " Dcutlich sieht man die halbzirkclfOrnrigo 

It des Toga an den Statucn, wo sic zwey Enden (odcr "Winkel) macht, 

ine vor, das andcre hinter dcr Person, welchc die Togatragt." Gesch. dcr 

. Buck VI. c. 3 (WerA-e, 5r Bd. s. 72 u. 377.— Dresden, in 

8° 18120 

oderfal people, the Etruscans, the Romans, in all proba- 
bility, derived, not only the curule chair, the lictors and fasces, the purple and 
the painted vestment, and, I may add, the sceptre with its eagle, of their rulers, 
klflO the toja, the prototype of which (in its rude and scantier shape, not in 
i >n,) may be Been in certain monuments of that ancient race. See 
Costume ant. e mod. vol. 5 (Fircnzc, 1828, in 8°) p. 163. 
I \) we have a group of figures, well-drawn, of 
r mantle corresponding thereto, the part over the 
<1, as if to hold it there, as is often 
seen with those who \ i cloak. <vf. Tav. 5. ib. p. 71.) But tho 



VIRGINIA 183 



(Be Judiciis lib. III. c. IS.— ap. Graev. in Thesaur. Antiq. supra cit. 
vol. II. p. 814), gives us the choice between the semicircular and the 
quadrate form, though he appears to lean judiciously to the former, as 
the proper cut : — " Toga amictus fuit exterior, a tegendo, ut scribit 
Yarro, corpore appellata. Ha3C fuit lanea, semicircularis, tunica supe- 
rior, ad talos Aliens, eademque aperta .... Semicircularem docet Diony- 
sius in Prisco, cum scribit, togam pictam amictum" etc. [as above] ; 
"et Isidorus libro xix. scribens, togam pallium esse purum forma ro- 
tunda; mensura vero togai justce esse sex ulnas." It will be observed 
that he does not remark the difference between the round of Isidore, and 
the half-circle of Diouysius. They are in fact, as I have tried to show, 
the same thing so far as the different amplitude of the garment allows 
it. " Contra vero quadratum fuisse monuit Athenseus lib. 5°, cum in- 
quit : Eomani in- Asia, ut vim Mithridatis ejfugerunt, ad templa confu- 
gerunt, et, quadratis vestimentis abjectis, pallia sumpserunt. Togas 
autem-eas fuisse, Cicero indicat in Oratione pro Postumo : P. Rutilium, 
inquit, facilius certe necessitatis excusatio defendet, qui, cum a Mitliridate 
MUylenis oppressus esset, crudelitatem regis in togatos vestitus mutatione 
vHavit, ticP See the whole chapter, which is full of interest and in- 
struction. However, without the supposed corroboration of Cicero, the 
citation from Athenaaus would be obviously of no account, and I am 
not sure it would be difficult to explain away the testimony even of the 
former. It was one of the military cloaks that is intended by Atheiiseus. 



centre and helmed figure, with the two lictors in tunics preceding him with 
their fasces, the first one holding also in his right hand a single rod, wears, if he 
represent a chief Lucumon or Etruscan king, the Irahea, with its stud or but- 
ton in the centre, ^vhich, by those who like the Abbe Magnetti (Cost. Elrus., in 
Ferrar., vol. cit. p. 67.) consider the clavus as such a stud, may be considered 
the origin of that ornament of rank with the Romans. Dionysius may have 
drawn on his imagination for the identity, in form, of the royal garment with 
the toga ; but it is sufficient for the argument, that he must have been familiar 
with the shape of the Roman mantle, and that, doubly defining it, by its Latin 
aud Greek name, he makes it to have been half-circular. 



184 NOTES TO 



A> Cicero, like other Roman writers, uses "toga" often figuratively for 

, and makei it the very emblem of public tranquillity and freedom 

from warfare,* he oould moan, one would think, in employing in that 

passage the phi i, but to express the gens togaia, the Romans, 

as ■ people the object of Mithridatee' hatred, not in that particular in- 
stance where it would be even absurd to suppose they wore the mantle 
of civil life.f Toga mo Romani in pace utebantur, in hello 2>aluda- 
■■s. ( }\t. SckoL in Bars* v. 14. — where, as is often done, pallida- 
vi> ntum is made synonymous with sagum.%) Toga as a phrase was 



* "Non drri" [he is speaking in reference to his use of the phrase Ccdant 
anna togir] "banc togam qua sum amictus . . .sed, quod pads est insignc et 
." Oral, in L. Pison. c. 30.— p. 70 Op. ed. Bipont. t. vi. Again, speak- 
ing of certain habitual ornaments of discourse,— " togam pro pace." I)c 
Orator. III. 42. (p. 2GG t. ft. cd.ci'.) 

It is unnecessary to accumulate evidence of a fact so familiar ; I prill add 
only, that in times of great danger, the Republic being in actual war, the man- 
tle was changed in the city itself for the scantier and less stately military cloak 
(sagum). See sub-note *. 

t Yet, taken in connection with what directly precedes it in the oration for 
: ins (" Feccrat temerc,"— and so on, through the page,— 144 t. vi, Opcr. ; 
ed. ctt.) the passage is one of perplexity. Aldus Manutius (ubi cit. p. 
telle ua that according to Plutarch the ancients fought in the toga girded. 
passage, which is in Coriolanus, I find it unmistakable, oven 
allowing for the time in which he wrote, when the toga had fallen into consid- 
D B| an I I t what he avows to have been his imperfect knowledge of 
:c. Ily 5e tot€ rots 'Pto/xcuois e0O9, ei? Tai-iv KaQeaTafxevois, /cat 
/jLcAAotcrt rots Ovpeois ava\aixfiaveLv, /cat n ep t £a> v v v a 9 a t rr\v Tr)(Sevvov, 
afxa /cat £ia077xas aypa<f>ovq yevecrOai, k. t. A. {Opcr. t. i. p. 217. ed JSTtfland. 
of. in fol. 1599.) My limits, already greatly extended, do not permit me 
I iminc this question further. I will but add, that if the toga were short 
; have been with the i>oor), it could have been girded, and 
1th the. troops in Plutarch. Sec sub-note bc- 
fttrnJ h, in the assertion of Rubcnius, a conjectural solu- 
tion ad ty. 

[uently put reciprocally for the same outer- 



VIRGINIA 185 



used constantly in opposition to war, the pursuits of war, and the habil- 
iments of war; of which it would be superfluous to cite instances ; and 
togati absolutely to express the Roman citizens, not soldiers, as in 
this very story in Livy, after the catastrophe and Virginius' appeal in 
the camp : " Immisti turbae militum togati." Ill, 50 (t. i. p. 293. Msev.). 

As to the size of the toga, the variety in which needs hardly any ar- 
gument or citation of authorities, it is discussed by Aldus Minutius : 
{lit sxipra p. 1198.) The six ells assigned to its just measure, were of 
the ample cloak undoubtedly, and not of such as Cato wore. A 
Spanish mantle that is circular will contain seven yards of broadcloth. 
Cicognara makes the diameter of the semicircle about three times the 
statue of a man, and in the broadest part its width about a third.* 
That it reached to the heels, as Sigonius describes it, may be said to 
have been impossible, because impracticable, for ordinary wear. That 
error, like the description of its passing under the right arm, comes 
from the observation of statues. 

The material was wool, as indeed with all the garments, except of 
the priests, during the earlier days of the Republic. It was without 
color {pura) for the ordinary citizen; but in persons of rank there was 
an insertion or embroidery of purple called the clavus.\ 



garment, corresponded with the Greek clilamys, and like it were fastened with 
a clasp or brooch, usually on the right shoulder, leaving the arm on that side 
bare. But it might he shifted, that is, the mantle he clasped to the left, or the 
clasp brought to the middle. Its length varied, and it may he supposed to 
have been worn both fuller and longer by men of rank, as in the paludamenta 
of the Emperors. Rubens (for it is the son of the great painter who is known 
as Euhenius) gives us the figure of the chlamys,— very much resembling a 
wide-bottomed petticoat of the present mode. He considers the toga as not 
differing much in form from this, the clilamys, except in magnitude and its cast. 
"Togain Romanam haud multum forma a chlamyde diversam fuisse, sed 
magnitudine solum et circumjectu, existimo." (De Be Vestiaria : lib. II. c. 8. — 
Graev. Thes. vi. 1018.) "Will this help to explain the doubtful phrase in Cicero, 
and the one still more perplexing in Plutarch? 

* Sloria delta Scultura, I. c. 5 : (Venez. in fol. 1813. t. i. p. 81.) 

t Grasvius, in the preface of his Gth volume, shows, as he himself says 



L86 NOTES ro 



.mi's being left free, of which I have just spoken, it 
t this was only the mode adopted by orators. Were one 
ik whatever, he would naturally, I might almost say 
right arm precisely as we Bee Lt often (not always) 
Bui thai il was st) worn on other occasions, and espe- 
eially in the streets, is not more probable than it would be were one, 
who had been in Spain, to assume that such was the mode of wearing 
the mantle there. The length alone would prohibit it, because when so 
worn it would touch the ground precisely as we see it in the Avgusto 
Visconti, which nevertheless, and though in a rhetorical atti- 
tude, has the right shoulder covered by the mantle, the right arm being 
well freed by the depression and largeness of the fold.* 



Kubenios docs, beyond the possibility of skepticism, that the clavi wore stripes 

inwoven or embroidered in the toga. "Clavos fuisse lineas ad instar 

'.rum, oblongas quadratas, non rotunda frusta, aut pannos, capitibus 

rum similes, tarn ccrtis et liquidis argumentis probarc mild vidctur 

aius, ut no Pyrrho quidem de hac re dubitarc possit. . . . Tunica laticlavia 

dicitur Graccis /u.eo-o-op$vpo9, qiiie in medio purpuram Jiabct intcxlam" etc. etc. 

See all on that page (it is not numbered), and, further on, the two following 

and part of the next. 

A more modern authority is just as positive " that the terms arose from 

figure of the clavus (a stud) on the dress." Fuss {Rom. Anliq. — Transl. 

Sect. 4.32., Oxf. in 8*. 1S40. p. 521). lie adds : " A passage in Horace, Sat 1. G, 

ma to prove that it was worn on the breast," and quotes : 

" Xam ut quisquc insanus nigris medium impediit cms 
Pellibus, et latum demisit pectorc clavum." 

rrcct so strange a surraiBC, it is merely necessary to quote the gloss of 
■.this. " Demisit : recto ordinc descendebant insuti clavi, vel intexli." 
* Sec the representation of this very noble statue, probably of Greek art, in 
the ' , !,) Tav. xlv. Tom. II. ; with note (b) 

ill be found in the Astor Library. The 

'. on a smaller scale in Fcrrario (Costume, cc. V. Tav. 7), where 

the want of ae< 'tually added to the majesty and 

the original 



VIRGINIA 187 



Merely adding, for the benefit of the actor, the judicious advice of 
Quintiliau, not to let the side that is thrown over the shoulder descend 
lower in front than the middle of the leg nor behind so low as the hips, 
I will conclude this too-long essay on what was the distinguishing 
outer characteristic of Roman citizens, and continued so while Rome 
retained her liberty, b} T quoting from Cicognara: " Non eravi in Roma 
distinzione piu onorevole della toga. GP imperatori la vestivono, e 
Cesare stesso era di quella coperto allorche fu assassinato in Senato. 
(Sucton. in Caes. c. S2.) Settimio Severo, che arrive- alle porte di Roma 
in abito militare, smonto da cavallo ed entro in citta alia testa delle sue 
truppe dopo d' esservi rivestito della toga. {Dion. Cass. Hist. Rom. 
1. I. xxiv.)" Sioria ec, I. c. 5. p. 87. The last sentence is worthy of 
note as confirming by an example the essential character of the toga, as 
a civil garment only and robe of peace. 

5.— P. 91. Not at least Till Hymen's torcli is lighted, etc.] This 
reading, as being the simplest and most directly intelligible, is I think 
the best also for the Stage. But if a more florid and elaborate one be 
preferred, it may be adopted as follows : 

lea. Not at least 
Till Hesper rising "bids the five-fold torch 
Of Love be lighted, and the deck'd couch is spread 
Here in the hall, and thy cheeks' blushes, deepening 
. Under the saffron veil, make pale the flowers 
That crown thy locks, and o'er thy yellow shoes 
Flows the white stole whose purple fringe I am weaving, — 
When girded, etc. 



Ica. Till the star 
Of evening rising bids the five-fold torch 
Of Hymen kindle, etc. (as above) : 

while again, the text may be further simplified for general cars, by sub- 
stituting after the colon in the fourth line : 



l v ^ NOTES To 



. . . when deeper glows thy check 

Under the veil, and the long robe enwraps thee, 
(or, as in the icxt, "ami the frfog'd robe is on thee,") etc. 



8. — P. 98. Fullfivi denarii, has consumed my all.] Or read: "Full 
twenty Besterces, consumes my all;" which will be familiar enough. 
The denarius was equal to ten asses (the as representing at that time a 
pound of brass). And originally the verse redd, " Full fifty asses, etc." 
Bat this would have had an equivocal sound for an audience. 

7.—V. 95. Alas, I weep not therefore, etc.] For the Stage, omit from 
this verse to the half-verse, u Va. To this stranger," inclusive. 

8. — P. 101. . . . he frowns, etc.] For the Stage, if the Actor of Icil- 
ius be tall, — " he towers." 

0. — P. 104. Which soon will pale hut one, and ported bare.'] For the 
Stage, may be substituted the more ordinary : 

Ere long to encircle one, and carried bare. 

But the elevated language of the text is better suited to the occasion 
and the man. 

10. — P. 105. And made the street Accursed to this day/] Accord- 
ing to the well-known story, which is probably the exaggeration of the 
1 of an atrocious deed, it was the wife of Tarquin, Servius' own 
daughter, who drove over the body of the murdered king. Dionysius 
tellfl the tale with considerable effect, which would have been height- 
ened but for his mania of putting speeches into the mouths of all his 
characters; how, When the body was yet palpitating ((TTraipovTos), 
the fiendish woman forced the reluctant charioteer to drive over it in 
the narrow triking him, in her fur}', with the foot-bench. The 



VIRGINIA 189 



change in the name of the street is then told : — 'Ovtoj 6 (Ttcvcdttos, 
o\f$ios* Ka\oviJ.svos irporepov, e£ eKeivov rou dewov kcli [xvcrapov 
ira&ovs a <t ej8 t\s viro 'Pcofxatcov Kara ttjv irarpiov yXwrrav kolK&itcli. 
Diox. Hal. Antiq. IV. xxxix. p. 233 t. i. ed. supra cit. 

Livy's account, " Greditur, etc.'' (lib. I. c. 48. t. i. p. 56, Twiss ; p. 71, 
Bipont ; p. 97, Gronov.) is worth reading, because, from a certain pre- 
ciseness of detail, it carries you to the scene and with the actor. He 
proceeds : " Sceleratum vicum vocant, quo aniens, agitantibus furiis 
sororis ac viri, Tullia per patris corpus carpentum egisse fatur,"'etc. 

a. — P. 111. Venus Cloacina.] The origin of this strange title, ac- 
cording to Lactantius (de Falsa Eelig. lib. i, — as cited in the Elzevir 
Livy, t. i. p. 189), was as follows : " Cloacimc simulacrum in Cloaca 
maxima Tatius consccravit, et, quia cujus effigies ignorabat, ex loco illi 
nomen imposuit." 

11. — P. 108. — in their tunics.] Under the toga was worn the 
tunic, which at first was without sleeves, f It was girt around the 
waist, and descended about to the knee : " Nam infra mulierum est, 
supra centurionum. (Quint. Orat. XI. ed. cit. p. 517.) This was worn 
by all ranks, and with the common people was their sole garment. But 



* A note in Drakenborch's Livy (eel. Tiviss) at the corresponding passage 
will be useful here. Speaking of the name in Livy, " Urhium, vulgo Virbium, 
qui baud procul Bovillis fuit, (Pers. Sat. vi. 55" [where see Vet. ScJiol.]) it pro- 
ceeds: " Orbium videtur velle Festus * cm" nomen a flexuosis orbibus.' Huic 
cognomen Scelerati hsesisse probabile est ; certe non Cyprio Vico" [as in some 
edd. of Dionys.], nt constat ex Varr. de L. L. iv. qui Sceleratum vicum haud 
procul Cyprio fuit." See also in the elegant Elzevir ed. (Gronov.) of 1679, the 
note on the same term ; t. i. p. 97. 

t "When worn, they did not descend further than the elbow, usually not so 
far. "I soli plebei vili, e gli uomini infami usavano le maniche lunghe, come 
ei vede dagli archi di Tito e di Constantino." Levati. Cost, dei Bom. in 
Fcrrario : Cost. ec. V. 613. 



190 NOTES TO 



■a the k: ilon irore the toga with a stripe of purple, 

rrower, these wider, so the hmic was, with them, likewise 
distinguished. 11 Hence Mttu8 t a little earlier in the text, says to 
Lucretius : 

" And they please me little ; 
A< does thy purpled tunic, which they suit." 

In the bust, supposed of Junius Brutus, (Vise. Iconogr. Rom. I. PI, 2. 
and expl. eh. 2., p. 1G : Parti, in fol., 1S17,) we sec the tunic very full, 
making numerous plaits, as compressed by the toga. 

In saying that this body-garment was the only dress of the common 

people, it must be understood, at all ordinary times ; for on solemn 

- it is not to be supposed that even the lower classes, except 

the very poor, were without the upper vestment which was the distin- 



* Tunica. "HffiC angustior ct brcvior quam toga fait, ac primum sine 
manieis, deinde manicata, ac cinctura constricta est. 

M Cum ergo cives omncs Itomani tunica utcrentur, factum est, ut tunica? 
ordines distinxerint : nam senatores ct equites tunicam clavatam induerunt, 
plebs rectam" [puram,* h. e. — colorless] ct sine clavis. Clavata tunica fuit, 
qua} clavos purpureos iutextos liabuit, aut latos aut angustos. Fucrunt autcm 
clavi, quasi flores panno intcxti !>.... Caetcmm tunica latos clavos purpureos 
intcxtos habens, qua? ct lalns clavus et tunica lati clavi dicta est, propria fuit 
scnatorum atquc amplis>imi ordinis insignc." Car. Sigon. in Gnev. Thes. uhi 
cit. >q- 

Sec also the whole of that chapter. Sigonius quotes there so amply and so 
aptly that the interest it excites is unusual. 

". . . !)<• tunica lati c!avi purpurea . . . satis aperta . . . significatio in hoc Ovidii 

" Jnduiturque humeri* cum Jofo purpura clavo." Ald. Man. u. c. p. 1206. 



pura fuit communis toga hominorum privatorum, corumque 
■'/m. Itaqw etiam oirilis est appellate. Ac pura quidem dicta, quod albi 
coloris ceset, nulla irpura." Bioon. ubi supra, i>. S16. 

iicr.it.'' Ai.D. Manut. ifc. p. 1192. 



VIRGINIA 191 



guishiug garb of a Roman citizen.* Thus (a little below in the text), 
Icilius bids the Citizens, that is, the more substantial among them, put 
on their mantles. It was in fact, in that great city of the olden day, as 
you may see it now, in London for example, where grooms and several 
others of the lower classes go in their sleeved waistcoats in ordinary ; 
only, the Roman wore no shirt under his tunic, that being, even for the 
rich, the sanitary comfort of a later day which saw the introduction or 
the familiar use of linen and cotton. Nature is the same everywhere 
and at all times, rising above fashions or modifying their conditions. 
Keeping this fact in view, we shall seldom be mystified by the conjec- 
tures and disputes of antiquaries. In modern times, vulgar men, or 
men who love their ease more than elegance or decorum, take off their 
common coat in-doors and sit in their vest and shirt-sleeves. Wore 
they woolen tunics only, we should have in these the ancient Roman, 
who knew not the convenience, except in military life, of a succinct 
upper-garment. 

12.— P. 113. Why did I make that law ? What is plebeian, That 
flesh patrician may not mate tcith it?~\ 'tis 8e ovx TjSvj/aro irpos ya^xov 
avrf]v Xafiew, eKeivnv re opcav eyy€yv7]jjL€P7]i/ erepcc, icai avros yvvaiKO. 
yajj.6T7]w Kai afia ov& a£iow e/c ^jjlotikov yevovs apiio(ra<r&ci.i yafxov, 
bv avros €u rais SooSeKa BeXrois avsypa\j/€, k. t. A. Diox. Hal. Ant. R. 
XI. xxviii. (Op. ed. cit. t. i. p. G76.) 

"Jam et processerat pars major anni, et duse tabulae lcgum ad 
prioris anni decern tabulas erant adjectse." Liv. Hist. III. c. 37. 
(t. I. p. 186, ed. cit.) 

Cicero speaks of this characteristic law in one of the defective 
chapters of his Republic (II. 37. JSobbe, ex recens. Ernest. Lips. 16°. 



* "Itaque objicias licet, quam voles sa?pe, palliatum fuisse, aliqua Jiahuisse 
non Roraani Jiominis insignia etc." Orat. pro Rabirio. The whole passage 
(p. 191, Cic. Op. Ripont. t. vi.) is worth reading, as illustrating the tenacity 
with which the Romans held to the wearing of the toga as characteristic of 
their people, ovr-n in tto Any* of Cicero. 



192 NOTES TO 



. ) : a chapter which Incidentally refers \o the subject-story of this 
Tragedy. " Ergo horum ex injustitia" [Decern viror. w,] " subito 
exortaeal maxima pertarbatio et totius commutatio rei publicac : qui, 
duabua tabolifl iniqnaram legum additis, quibus, etiam quae disjunctis 
populia tribni solent connubia, hsec illi ut ne plcbei cum patribus 

at, Lnhamanissima lege sanxerunt; qiue postca plebeiscito Canuleio 
abrogata est : libi^iuoscque omni imperio ct acerbe ct avarc populo 
pnefuerunt." 

13. — P. 115. 7w Virginius'' daughter I Num. Gods! we are too 
late.] The passage may read thus : 

'T i.s Virginias 1 daughter ! 

Icil. Gods! [springing forward in the di- 
rection of the sound. 
Num. AVc arc too late, [following, etc. 

But it is more consistent with the character of Icilius, that he should 
not exclaim, but act at once, as I have made him in the text; — where, 
if preferred, Xumit's part may read, " ! we are too late." 

14. — P. 118. Romans! freemen! brothers! Ye know me; I have 

never spoken false. This is Virginius' daughter ; etc.] Between 

the second and third lines of this appeal, I had written two other 

es. They may be restored, if judged advisable; the passage 

reading thus : 

I have never spoken false. 

Look on this tender maid, half-dead with shame 
To be so branded. Has a slave such mien ? 
It is Virginius' daughter ; etc. 

15.— P. 119. If thou dare touch her, though it be the form, — ] Or, more 
directly intelligible perhaps, thus : 

If thou dare touch her, though the form require it : 

, namely, putting forth his hand to touch the Bhoulder of 



VIRGINIA 193 



Virginia, as the formality exacted on such occasions.) But what 
Marcus says, himself, presently, may render the meaning plain enough : 

let me wave the form. 

16. — P. 119. Kow, by the manes, etc.] The actor may read : " Now 
by the ashes," etc. ; though the former word should be sufficiently 
familiar. 

17. — P. 120. By the same law, assert her to be free, And as her 
guardian, in the father's room, Demand the right to lead her ivhere 
I will.'] Or: 

By the same law, assert her unto freedom, 

And as her guardian claim the natural right, [or, 

claim prescriptive right.] 
She being born free, to take her whence she came. 

But the legal phrase, " assert her unto freedom," though more strictly 
Roman, would not be directly understood from the stage. — The last 
line of the text : " Demand the right, etc." may be redd, 

Claim natural right to reconduct her home. 

18. — P. 124. Arrest, etc.] The naturalness is marred in this and the 
preceding line metri grat. Omit for the Stage the last word in either 
verse. But in the second may be redd : " Seize him, bind, or slay !" 

19. — P. 125. But who are surety that the girl appear f\ This verse, 
with the four in connection, directly before and after it, may be thus 
modified : — 

Num. My son, that was not wise. 
See ! they have taken alarm. 

Marc. Be 't, great decemvir : 
I ask but justice. Meantime, that the girl 
May be forthcoming, let the friends find bail. 
Yal. Here ! Lucius Valerius. 

Hor. And Horatius, here ! 
9 



101 NOTES TO 



• i 



And here ! 

. y And here ! 

And all of us ! 



Which perhaps would be the better reading for the Stage, because it 
expresses more distinctly that requirement of the Roman Law, which 
we have, among so many others, borrowed; the word ''bail" exciting 
at once in the minds of the audience a familiar image. 
Or again : 

See where the pander, etc. 
Marc. Be 't great decemvir ! Meantime, let the friends 
Give surety that the maiden rc-appcar. 

Or: 

I ask but justice. Meantime, that the girl 
May be forthcoming, let the Mends find bail. 

20. — P. 127. App. Waits no one more for justice ? Liciors, move. 
(Rises, and etc.] Otherwise, omitting this last verse, where Appiutf 
u Waits no one more for justice ?" might excite a smile : 

Appics, looking from side to side for a moment , rises slowly, 

and as he turns, about to descend the tribunal, 

the Drop falls, 

21 — P. 123. 'T were best not ash me. (carelessly.] Or : "I am not 
Pontiff, [coldly" But this would need more knowledge of the Roman 
religion than the audience in general can have. — For " Think'st thou 
there be Furies V 7 may be redd, " Believ'st thou in the Furies ?" 

22.— P. 130. / made thee note the daughter's beauty—] — " Virginia's 
beauty" is preferable: but from the Stage, the enunciation of "Vir- 
ginias," almost directly after, would be unpleasant, from the want of a 
Sufficiently sensible difference between the sounds. 

20.— P. 131. Torture his pride / etc. etc. to end of Scene.] Or, omit- 



VIRGINIA 195 



ting these five last Hues, make Marcus' Exit at " thrown away," and 
Livia's after " Thou shalt see," (two lines above.) This is more in the 
true spirit of tragedy (as I conceive it) ; in which any sarcasm, that 
shall excite even a smile in the audience, is misplaced. 

24.— P. 135. Whose tutelar-gods thy mother's girlhood faiew — ] 
This line may be omitted ; and so, which is the original conception, it 
better suits the rapidity of Icilius' present manner. " Await with him 
thy sire," may read, " Await thy troubled sire." 

Otherwise again, the whole passage may read thus : 

And the black gore drip downwards ! — No more sorrow ! 

Come, my Virginia, let us seek the hall. 

There, by thy uncle's tutelar gods, with him 

Await thy father, while Icilius goes 

To stir Bome's ashes. — Why this sudden change ? 

Have the gods heard our anguish ? Let the shadow 

Now passing from my heart be better augury, 

And thy own grim forebodings pass away 

Like the night's dreams. 

25.— P. 136. Draws his hood, etc.] That is, of the penula or trav- 
eling-cloak. This was a thick, rough, or even shaggy, woolen outer- 
garment or surtout, used as a protection against the weather. Hence 
often worn in the theatres, like the lacema / especially in winter. We 
read of it most frequently as a defence against rain. The pompous 
lines of Juvenal to that import (I. v. 79.) will readily be remembered : 

" fremeret sceva cum grandine vemus 

Jupiter, et multo stillaret psenula nimbo :" 

as also the witticism of Galba, when asked to lend his cloak of that 
description : "Non pluit, non est opus tibi ; si pluit, ipse utor."* 



* See Oct. Ferrar. De Re, etc. Pars II. Lib. II., which is devoted to 
the subject, (p. 823 sqq. Graev. Thes. VI.) 

Pcnula. " IIocc ex lana alba, aut ex gausapc fuit confecta, pluviaj atque 



196 NOTES TO 



1 ird day after that M long enough /] This vcrsc 
may be omitted 

P. Mi 1 . w leilius i only Borrow :] " Icilius' heavy 

OW* — iHt bo wished to avoid the apj)an?it tautology, — for such it 
is only at first sight : but the original reading, which is that of the 
text, is far preferable in every respect ; and it alone expresses my 

meaning. 

28. — P. 1 12. that they love their ivives.] — " that they love their 

homes [or, hearths.]" For the Stage, perhaps ; as the mass of an 
audience catches instantly and eagerly at the faintest shadow of the 
comic, (which, by the way, is, in acting, the saving grace of many a 
bad tragedy;) and, as I said before, the least pleasantry I deem to be 
out of place here. 



itincris caussa, non togoc, ut lacernoc, scd tunica? superimposita." Car. 
Sigon. De Judiciis, III, 18.— p. 819 Grscv. vol. cit. 

Pienida— "habitus hibcrnus ac viatorius, et ad propulsandos imbrcs, ccter- 
asque asperioris cceli injurias, pcridoneus. Picbant autcm pamulae ex crassi- 
ori lana, non ex tcnuiori prolixiorique ut togsc." Jo. BArT. Donii Diss, de 
Ulraq. Pcenula ; in Greev. vol. cit. p. 1151. 

" Erat ct alia pa?nula, capitio adjecto, de qua Plinius 1. xxiv., ubi peenu- 
larum capitibus centunculum comparat : Ifali, inquit, ccntunculum vocant, 
>is, ad similitudincm capitis jnouilarum, jaccntcm in arvis. Bart. 
. souk, de P(uuda.—i>. 1172. Grsev. etc. 
..." Stnctior est et ejus ora qua) collum ambit, tarn laxc tamen patens ut 
caput exeri possit, opcriri aut involvi. Undo Pomponius in Pcnicea : Pamulam 
in caput induce, ne te noscat :" (which is precisely the act of Virginius). — JcZ., 
ih. p. 117J. ... "Pan v< ntrcm spectans apcrta est, alioquin vestimentum 
:n ct rotundum esset." lb. lie adds a descriptive fiprurc. 
"La pcnula era un mantcllo di grossa lana adorno di frangic, apcrto sola- 
mente ne] I 1 1 -vi passare la testa. Qucllo de' soldati avca il 

coh>i Uo (If •' rittndini bruno. Ui dictro eravi un cappuccio, col quale 

L M L:\aji, ubi cit. 



VIRGINIA 197 



29.— P. 142. I seek to restore the tribunes. Appitts said it.] 

This variety in the rythm is used to give a sudden and brief rapidity 

to the enunciation. If the Actor prefer, it may be redd : " I would 

restore the tribunes," etc. 



30. — P. 142. Alas for me! their power suspended trials.] Or ; "Trib- 
es ! Alas ! their power could put off trials." 



unes 



31. — P. 149. — H would cost me merely life.] Or, with an allusion to 
Virginia, " but my life." And for the last words of Valerius, to which 
Icilius makes reply, may be redd : 

" to keep back Spurius Oppius. 

Courage, Icilius ! when the sun goes down, 
Eome will be free :" 

which pre-indicates the time of the catastrophe. 

32. — P. 150. — that shall make thee his. Benders thy sire the 

proudest in all Rome.] " that confirms thee his, Will make thy 

sire, etc." 

33.— P. 151. All other shrines, were not her temple here?] "All 
other homes, were not her mansion here ?" 

34. — P. 152. Justice no more shall lend her snow-white pall To 

hood Oppression ] The dress of the Roman women consisted of the 

stole {stola), a sleeved garment, which corresponded to the tunic of the 
men, but desceuded to the feet,* and the " pall" {palla), which was the 
Pallium of the Greeks, aud, worn over the stole, as a mantle, corre- 
sponded to the toga of the men. Of its shape there is dispute, as .in 



* " La tunica lunga con lunghe maniche, come vedesi nella figlia di Mobe, 
e quella precisamente che i romani poi chiamarono stola." Cicogn. Storia delict 
Scult. I. c. 5.— p. 77 1. i. 



1 D8 NOTES TO 



nd to the form of the toga, Winkelmann supposes it. to have been 
round, and Ferrari to have been semicircular; but Cicognara main- 
tains that it was in eut a parallelogram.* That it was, or may have 
been, rectangular, any artist may ascertain for himself by trying a 
sheet, or better a Light blanket, which will enable him to imitate easily 
the modes of wearing this dress as it is seen in statues. With a very 
natural action the pall was frequently drawn over the head, sometimes 
merely to the forehead, sometimes so as to conceal the features (as with 
Virgini i in the entry to Act v. Sc. 3),wheuccthc expression in the text ; 
which however may be redd from the Stage : 

" Justice no more shall lend her snow-white robe 
To hood Oppression." 

There is a fine line of Ilorace (Senn. I. ii. 99) which describes with a 
single touch both the stole and pall : 

11 Ad talos stola demissa, et circumdala palla." 

The toga was worn by women only under disreputable circum- 
stances, of which the Satire cited furnishes more than one illustration. 

On the color of the stola, see the note of Baxter and Zeunius on the 
86th verse of the same Satire, (p. 299, ed. Lond. in 8°, 1809.) It cannot 
be doubted that it varied at different times, and not only according to 
the rank but to the age of the wearer. A maiden of Virginia's youth, 
of the more respectable class of the plebeians, would hardly wear any- 
thing but white. Sec note 10, p. 100, lav. xx. Antlcldta di Ercolano. 
(fol. 1767.) 

Finally, on the Palla, consult Octav. Fcrrar. : Analecta de B. V, c. 
26. — p. 1108 sq. in Grccv. vol. cit. 

85. — P. 152. And Puhliud own are fulgent ivith new Jiojw.] "And 
Pnblina 1 quiet mien is full of hope." 



/""•, ] • 79, I 



VIRGINIA 199 



b.— P. 1G0. — in a mourning-cloak — ] The Pallium (palla, 
" pair') described in note 34. 

36. — P. 161. But, being taught in time Be?' falsehood ivith, etc.] 

" But, when certain proofs 
Taught me to know her falsehood with that man, 
Yon Claudius, plaintiff here, I flung her off, 
As I would fling a viper, (see ! she trembles !) 
Never having, etc. 1 * 

And above, for brought from taken Antium, "taken in the Volscian 
war." 

37. — P. 164. — and honor now But little known, man trusts man's 
word no more — ] Or, — "man plights his word no more:" which is 
more accurate in construction, though less tragic (stern and nervous) 
in sound. 

38. — P. 166. — Wherefore Wear ye else hidden arms?] "Else, 
Why wear ye hidden arms ?" 

30. — P. 167. — Such the law Of great Valerius makes deserving 
death.] 

" And therefor 
May by the great Valerius' law be slain 
By any hand ; law natural and just." 

But the text has the advantage of brevity. — For makes in the text, 
may be redd " made." But it is less forcible. 

40'. — P. 167. There sits your Tarquin App. But thou stand' st 

not Brutus.] Perhaps this play on the word, though bitter and stern 
on the part of the speaker, might cause a smile in some of the audience. 
It may read then : " But thou art not [or, art no] Brutus." 



200 NOTES TO VIRGINIA 



•11. — P. 169. Virginias then had no part in th( cheat/ Marcus and 

. App. But little, etc.] The first line may be omitted; which 

res the pari to its original conception. And again, for the Stage, 

all three of the verses may he thrown out, as impeding the action. 

42.— P. 171. Weeps t Fbr ye will not, etc.] It may be pointed, 
11 Weeps ;" — which allows the actor to give another tone to the expres- 
sion. I think the reading of the text better suits the character, 
although the energy, and fierceness even, of the exclamation, make the 
difference scarcely important. 

43. — P. 171. A fiction. Appius stoops not to say more.'] From 
here to Lictors, make room — to be omitted on the Stage. 

44. — P. 175. Lucius — my beloved — Receive — my last breath. 

Father, I — die — pure.] Virginia's dying words might read thus : 

" Lucius — my beloved ! — 

T was at thy hand But it is fitter thus. 

Receive, etc." 

Bui IcUius is made to express himself too nearly in the same man- 
ner with regard to Appius : } T is better thins. 



ADDITION TO NOTE 4, ON Till'. FORM OF THE TOGA. 

r. 181.— I should hive added here an undernote to this effect :— 

Any rectangular piece of cloth may form a square, a circular, or a semicircular cloak, ac- 

eg to its amplitude, on which depends the number of its gathers at the shoulders. Tho 

-h mantle owes its curve to this arrangement and nothing else. Take out the plaits and 

• adrilateral. It would follow then, that, could wc suppose the same condition obtained 

with the torji, that Is, that it was gathered at the shoulders, the curvilinear sweep of the bottom 

■ -«iuld be the re -nit, not ol its cut, but of its disposition. But if cut, or more probably wo- 

I n into shape, it must have made not the half of a circle but a narrower segment; 

.■i only could 11 l equal a third of its diameter. Aeloth bo fashioned I have 

f therewith to imitate the drapery of the Augustw, The 

right Bide envelops twlOC I Ing in the first involution under the right arm, and 

finally over it at the shoulder: a hint thai may be Of lervi to the 

actor. The effect was sup 



